Runding Castle (Ruin)

Runding Castle is located on the so-called "Schlossberg" (Castle Hill) above the municipality of Runding in the Upper Palatinate district of Cham. Today, the sad but still imposing remains of what was once the largest castle complex in the Bavarian Forest can be found, with a total built-up area of approximately 15,000 m², including the outer bailey with a manor house and granary. The accessible rampart has a length of almost 400 m.

The founding family of the Runtinger (Roumptinger) served the Margraves of Cham and Vohburg and was first mentioned in a document in 1118. The castle itself, however, was probably built by them before 1100. Although the Runtinger were initially only simple ministeriales (vassals) of their counts, they managed to expand their dominion. They can be continuously traced in Runding until 1413/1415, but then their lineage died out due to lack of offspring.

Heinrich Notthafft, the Vicedom (administrator) of the Duke of Lower Bavaria (Straubing-Holland), managed to bring the dominion and Runding Castle completely into his possession through enfeoffment and purchase in 1415. For over 400 years – with an almost 70-year interruption by the Eyb family during the Reformation – the highly respected and at times very wealthy noble family of Notthafft determined the fate of the castle and the associated villages. In the 15th/16th century, the Notthafft transformed the austere castle into a magnificent "Veste," a sprawling palace complex.

Unfortunate times were brought by the Hussite invasions around 1430 and the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War. Twice – in 1633 and 1641 – the mighty castle and the surrounding villages were mercilessly plundered by the Swedes. The damage suffered amounted to 160,000 guilders, an enormous sum at the time.

Donations and endowments, as well as the general loss of privileges for the nobility, increasingly diminished the available funds of the Notthafft. The numerous, never-repaid loans to the Bavarian ruling family of the Wittelsbachers also contributed to this.

Almost inevitably, a complete economic collapse occurred in 1829. The Bavarian state had to auction off the castle and the extensive Runding dominion for 233,000 guilders from the hands of the debtors. Shortly thereafter, it sold the entire Runding property to the court banker Hirsch from Munich. He did not further concern himself with the buildings, so they gradually fell into disrepair. In 1858, he sold the Schlossberg, along with the severely damaged castle, to a farmer from Runding. "Since only a few rooms of the castle were still habitable, and the owner received so little rent that he couldn't even pay the house tax, he removed the roofs, sold them and the enormous oak roof beams and granite door and window frames, and left the walls to their fate. Anyone in Runding who needed building stones could get them from the castle," reports a local historian. Because the state did not intervene, the fate of the once proud castle was finally sealed. Even private reconstruction attempts in the 1920s of the 20th century contributed more to accelerating the decay than to achieving positive results.

Wind, weather, and the rampant vegetation from 1940 onwards increasingly damaged the masonry. The decay was only halted from 1992 onwards by the preservation measures of the municipality of Runding. Following a concept by architect Rosenbaum from Amberg, the existing remains of the ruin have since been restored and preserved for posterity with funds from public subsidies.