Top 20 Castles around Laaber

First mentioned in 1367 and still well preserved today https://www.burg-wolfsegg.de

The Höhlenburg Loch > a geotope The Höhlenburg Loch is one of only two cave castles in Bavaria (the second is in Stein an der Traun in Upper Bavaria). The lower, flatter part of the castle complex lies in slab dolomites belonging to the Velburg Horizon. The steep wall, at the base of which the (residential) caves appear, is formed by mass dolomites of the Middle Franconian Alb Formation. Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU). https://www.umweltatlas.bayern.de/standortauskunft/rest/reporting/sb_geotope/generate?additionallayerfieldvalue=375A026

You can say it out loud, it is a gem on the Naab.

Wolfsegg Castle is a well-preserved medieval castle, with origins dating back to the late 13th century. Today, the castle houses a museum that offers insights into medieval life, including everyday objects, archaeological finds and military equipment. The Knights' Hall is decorated with wall paintings from the 15th century. The castle is also regularly used for cultural events. According to an old legend, the "White Lady" is said to haunt the castle walls, a mysterious apparition that always gives rise to mysterious stories.

Eichhofen Castle One of the special features of Bavarian country castles is the so-called hammer castles, which were built from the 16th to the 18th century, primarily in the Upper Palatinate, as representative residential buildings for hammer mill owners. Eichhofen Castle is one of these. Eichhofen Castle was built around 1560 by the influential Sauerzapf family as a late Gothic, rectangular and three-storey gabled building, with stepped gables facing north and south. There is a Romanesque chapel on the west side. In 1866, the property was redesigned in a neo-Gothic style, and the onion domes were probably removed. The eaves side building on a slope is characterized by a protruding tower on the northeast side and a bay window on the southeast side. Inside, the generous three-room layout from the time of construction has been preserved. The hallway on the ground floor is a vaulted corridor, with rooms on two sides. The late Gothic planked beam ceiling and the solid fittings from the 18th century have also been preserved. There is a pavilion from the 19th century in the garden. The castle was pretty much destroyed in the Thirty Years' War and rebuilt in the middle of the 16th century. The former iron hammer ceased operations in 1848 and the grain mills built by the Regensburg wholesaler Wilhelm von Neuffer have been idle since 1970. The Eichhofen Castle Brewery, however, which is run independently by the Schönharting family, can look back on a brewing tradition spanning more than 400 years. According to even older documents, the brewery is one of the oldest breweries in Bavaria, as the brewery was mentioned as early as the beginning of 1300. In recent years, the castle and the surrounding farm buildings have been extensively renovated. With the establishment of a workshop and exhibition space for artists on the upper floor of the former mill, Eichhofen also became a small, private cultural center that has been able to present a series of exhibitions to the public in recent years. The castle is listed in the Nittendorf community's monument list as a protected architectural monument and is now privately owned by the family of Dr. Günther and Ingeborg Schönharting. Source: Excerpts from www.wikipedia.de / Castles tell stories... - Book & Art Publishers Oberpfalz

Loch Castle Ruins Loch Castle was probably built by the Rammelsteiners, the lords of a nearby estate. They were first mentioned in the 12th century and were ministerials of the burgraves of Regensburg and later of the Bavarian dukes. Their castle in Loch was probably only built after 1300 to protect an iron hammer mill in the Laber Valley. A "Hugo vom Loch" is mentioned in a fief book of the Regensburg monastery of St. Emmeram at this time. Jakob Rammelsteiner vom Loch was district judge in Sulzbach in 1388 and court master to the Duke of Ingolstadt, Ludwig the Bearded, in 1413. His descendants Dietrich and Wolfgang took part in the knights' revolts of the Böckler and Löwler, but this did not cause any lasting damage to the family. After 1500, the lords of the castle also gained control of the Schönhofen and Eichhofen castles. When the last Rammelsteiner Sebastian died in 1556, the complex passed to his nephew Wolf Heinrich Sauerzapf in 1573 after long inheritance disputes. The Sauerzapf - a very successful family of hammer lords - gave up their seat in 1625 at the latest and resided in Schönhofen. In 1714, the last Sauerzapf Christoph bequeathed Loch Castle, already in ruins, to the Carthusian monastery of Prüll in Regensburg. The former Loch Castle, although it remained historically insignificant, offers many interesting features. The shape of the cave castle is extremely rare. The entrance was in the north, where a moat, still clearly visible today, separates the castle terrace. A gatehouse with a drawbridge can be clearly seen in the 1718 depiction, as can the residential buildings, which lean against the steep wall in the east in front of several cave rooms. At the southern end of the terrace stands the well-preserved keep, which is 23 meters high. It has 2 m thick walls, a toilet bay and large windows on the top floor. The structural design of the keep, which was built from roughly hewn rubble stone and was designed to be relatively comfortable with large windows and a toilet bay, clearly points to the 14th century. Clearly visible remains of built-in features have been preserved in the largest cave. It is surprising that such an uncomfortable and defensively unfavourable location was chosen for a castle in the late Middle Ages. It was extremely vulnerable to attack from the plateau above. The reason for the choice of location was probably solely the nearby hammer mill. Source: Excerpts from www.burgenseite.de

No matter what the weather or light, it is always beautiful to look at and take photos of. A visit to the castle is also recommended. It is best to check the opening times online beforehand

In the town of Wolfsegg, the castle of the same name sits on a rock. From the beginning of May to the beginning of October, you can visit the castle on weekends and public holidays. You might even see the "White Lady". You can find more information about the castle, opening times, prices and events at https://www.burg-wolfsegg.de/.