Sarching Castle

On the former manor Sarching, the construction of a chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, by the Bavarian dukes of the Agilolfing dynasty is documented for the period between 520 and 780. The name Sarching is said to derive from a founder named Saricho or Saro.

The well-known Gamerit (Gamered) family of Särching (Sarching) lived here. For instance, a Ulrich von Sarching was a canon in 1312 and dean of the cathedral in Regensburg in 1317. Berthold Gamerit von Sarching in 1331 and Leutwin Gamerit a few years later were also canons in Regensburg. The latter particularly revered the blessed Princess Aurelia, daughter of Hugo Capet, who spent 52 years in a hermitage in Regensburg with prayer and fasting and died in 1372. Leutwin erected a beautiful high tomb for her in St. Emmeram. In 1377, a Gamerit was a caretaker in Stauf, and the last Gamerit von Sarching, with whom the family died out in 1395, had the magnificent west portal of Regensburg Cathedral built at his own expense, thereby creating an enduring monument for himself.

His daughter married Konrad Dürrnstetter, a brother of the cathedral master builder Heinrich Dürrnstetter. This Konrad Dürrnstetter built the "Veste Sarching," the castle that still largely retains its original features today. In 1404, he bequeathed his castle and the village of Sarching to the church in Regensburg. As early as 1499, the Veste passed into the possession of the Teutonic Knights of St. Egid in Regensburg. A cathedral window and a keystone in the Dorotheenkapelle show the coat of arms of the Sarchinger family.

In the 15th century, the Sarching family of Gamerit provided several Regensburg canons and cathedral deans. From 1499, the Teutonic Knights of St. Egid in Regensburg exercised manorial rights.

The castle was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War and rebuilt in 1648. It was subsequently used as a summer residence by the Regensburg bishop Johann Michael Sailer. 

Today, the castle serves as the town hall.