Schwärzenberg Castle (Ruin)

Schwarzenberg Castle, also known as Schwarzenberg, is a castle ruin on a quartz rock of the Pfahl west of the Strahlfeld district near the town of Roding in the Upper Palatinate district of Cham in Bavaria.

The hilltop castle was presumably built in the 13th century on the land of the Bishop of Bamberg by the Lords of Fronau, who were first mentioned in documents at the beginning of the 12th century. (The motte-and-bailey castle Haselberg in the area of Haselberg could have been a predecessor). The first documentary mention of Schwarzenberg Castle was in 1306 in the feudal register of the prince-bishopric, naming Andreas von Fronau as the castellan. From 1390, Peter Fronauer began to raid Regensburg merchants and in 1400 had to sell half of his castle to Hans Zenger von Zangenfels, with whom he was closely related. Later, the castle came entirely into the possession of the Zenger family, a widespread noble family in the Upper Palatinate. In 1520, Georg von Murach initially inherited the castle, which then frequently changed owners and was described as dilapidated and ruinous in a sales document in 1606. Interim owners included the Barons of Weichs, the Barons of Muggenthal, and Dietrich Heinrich von Plettenberg. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was finally destroyed. From 1999 to 2002, securing and renovation measures were carried out, and archaeological excavations were conducted.