Eichhofen Castle

Eichhofen Castle is located in the Eichhofen district of the municipality of Nittendorf near Regensburg.

Among the special features of Bavarian country castles are the so-called "Hammerschlösser" (hammer castles), which were built from the 16th to the 18th century, primarily in the Upper Palatinate, as representative residences for hammer mill owners. Eichhofen Castle, 17 km west of Regensburg, in the valley of the Schwarze Laber, is one of them. The 16th-century hammer castle is listed as a protected monument in the monument list of the municipality of Nittendorf and is now privately owned.

The former iron hammer ceased operation in 1848, and the grain mills subsequently built have been idle since 1970. In recent years, extensive renovation of the castle and its surrounding outbuildings has been carried out. With the establishment of a workshop and exhibition space for artists on the upper floor of the former mill, Eichhofen has become a small, private cultural center that has been able to present a series of exhibitions to the public in recent years.

The estate also houses a brewery restaurant, where visitors can comfortably stop for a meal and enjoy the locally brewed beer from the Eichhofen Castle Brewery.

• 1579 Ambrosius Raiger completes the construction of the castle. After his death, his grandson Hans Martin von Rosenbusch (district judge of Hirschberg) inherits the Hammer von Loch and the Hofmark Eichhofen.
• 1692 The brewhouse is rebuilt by Franz Wilhelm Freiherr von Rosenbusch (Electoral Bavarian Chamberlain).
• 1800 Under the estate owners Anton von Schmaus (1805–1825) and Freiherr von Axter (1825–1841), industrialization was promoted in Eichhofen. Schmaus continued the traditional iron hammer.
• 1812 To connect with modern iron industry, Schmaus erects a blast furnace. The blast furnace produced 6000 hundredweight of pig iron annually. Furthermore, Axter built a small nail factory.
• 1818 A new industry branch was introduced with the production of mirror glass. In 1818, a mirror glass grinding facility was built in Eichhofen, where raw glass from the Bavarian Forest was ground and polished. The mirror glass industry experienced its heyday in the 19th century, while Upper Palatinate iron production fell into a severe structural crisis, from which the Eichhofen iron hammer was also not spared.
• 1848 Closure of iron and steel production, construction of two modern art mills.
• 1870 The castle brewery was equipped with steam power and at that time had an annual production of 480 hectoliters of beer. Thus, under Wilhelm von Neuffer, a large agricultural enterprise equipped with the latest techniques and almost 100 employees was created.
• 1873 Construction of the Nuremberg-Regensburg railway line. The Undorf station was called Eichhofen station until 1934.
• 1936 Günther von Braunbehrens acquires the estate, and it continues to be operated by the von Braunbehrens/Schönharting family to this day.
• 1970 Agriculture and mill operations cease. The castle brewery is largely renewed and modernized.
• 1990 Art and exhibition operations begin in the Eichhofen Art Mill.
• 2005 Construction of the new brewhouse.