Top 11 Castles around Saal an der Donau

Unfortunately the tower was closed

scheens castle

The castle is absolutely beautiful 🏰

Abbach Castle Ruins Ahabach Castle was first mentioned in a document on May 6, 973. Abbach Castle is believed to have been the birthplace of Emperor Henry II, but this cannot be proven. On November 1, 1007, Emperor Henry II donated the site to the Bishopric of Bamberg, which he founded. Abbach Castle was taken over by the Wittelsbachs around 1200; at that time, the Wittelsbachs had also succeeded in gaining control of the Danube toll at Abbach. The castle was allegedly destroyed by the Bishop of Bamberg when he handed Abbach over to the Prüfening Monastery. However, Duke Ludwig I had it rebuilt in 1224 and compensated the monastery with Königswiesen near Regensburg and Matting. Subsequently, the Duke significantly expanded his holdings in the Abbach district. In 1297, Abbach was burned down during a feud between the Bavarian Dukes Otto and Stephan and the citizens of Regensburg. Afterwards, the castle, which served only as the steward's residence, was rebuilt on a smaller scale. In 1564, neglect of the surrounding wall and the castle itself was noted. A land register from 1586 contains the following note: The castle has a wide courtyard, in the center of which stands a round tower that has been roofless for many years, as well as a deep well that does not always provide water. The strong surrounding walls have partially collapsed. During the Thirty Years' War, in 1632 and 1634, the citizens of Abbach and the surrounding area fled to the castle and defended it. In 1705, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Abbach surrendered to the Austrians without a fight. Between 1740 and 1745, Abbach was repeatedly sacked as a result of the War of the Austrian Succession. Demolition work on the castle buildings began in 1803; by 1832, almost all buildings except the keep had been removed. In April 1945, the Heinrichsturm (St. Henry's Tower) was hit by bombs because it had housed a German Wehrmacht observation post. The tower, which is now accessed via a steel staircase above the old high entrance, was renovated in the early 1980s. The 27-meter-high late Romanesque tower has a four-and-a-half-meter-thick rubble masonry. Inside the tower are two stacked octagonal chambers with helmet vaults. Remains of the castle's ring wall have also been preserved. Source: Excerpts from www.wikipedia.de

A hilltop castle stood here, built in 973. Between 1803 and 1832, everything except the keep was demolished.

Viehhausen is actually inconspicuous, but the monastery is remarkable and the elevation above Alling is also beautiful

Viehhausen Monastery On September 7, 1848, the Oberviehhausen Castle was bought at auction by Friedrich Pustet, owner of the Alling paper factory, but just four years later he sold it for 400 guilders to the St. Clara Monastery in Regensburg. The buildings were acquired when the abbess of the Poor Clares Monastery in Regensburg, Antonia Spaeth, wanted to found a branch monastery. This monastery was also intended to contribute to the renewal of the order's rules. The following were introduced: midnight prayer, fasting on Mondays of the year, no separate cell for the sisters, but a common room, and simplicity in food, drink and clothing. The abbess emphasized that the main duty of the nun is choral prayer. Another important activity was the education and training of the children in the girls' boarding school and in the boys' school. The church's approval for the construction of a new monastery was granted on June 15, 1852. On September 23, 1852, the Viehhausen monastery was ceremoniously inaugurated by Bishop Valentin von Riedel. On June 20, 1854, the episcopal ordinariate declared the independence of the Viehhausen monastery. As the convent was constantly growing, the first extension had to be completed in 1856. In 1856, the monastery took over the girls' school. The convent grew more and more, and consisted of 12 choir nuns, four lay sisters and a novice. The monastery suffered greatly during the inflation in the 1920s and in the post-war years. In 1952, a school of its own was built in Viehhausen, and the St. Josef retirement home with twelve single rooms for women was set up in the now empty school rooms of the monastery building. After the Poor Clares' monastery in Regensburg was dissolved in 1974, the Poor Clares in Viehhausen also gave up their monastery and moved together with the Regensburg sisters to a newly built monastery in Dingolfing. As the parish curacy was already being looked after by fathers of the Servite Order, plans were made to build a novitiate and study house for the order here. After extensive renovations, Bishop Rudolf Graber consecrated a Servite monastery here on June 11, 1978. However, the order was unable to achieve its goals in the long term and so the Servites left the monastery in Viehhausen in 1989. Source: Excerpts from the church guide and www.wikipedia.de

Viehhausen Castle The year Oberviehhausen Castle was built is not known. However, a lowland castle was first mentioned in documents in 1435, and it changed hands several times over the centuries. The Oberviehhausen manor belonged first to the Chamerauers, then to Hadamar von Laaber, from 1435 to the Reisachers, then to Hans Schelhamer and around 1570 to Leonhard Sauerzapf, and from 1600 the property passed to the Barons von Rosenbusch by marriage. There used to be a deep moat around the castle, and this moat was still mentioned in 1869. Drawbridges on the east and west sides led to the entrance. Before the castle was destroyed by the Swedes in the Thirty Years' War, there were small towers at each corner. In the south of the complex was the castle garden, and in the middle there was a fountain that was fed with water from the Kreuzsee. It was not until 1681 that Franz Wilhelm Rosenbusch had the property rebuilt as a small castle in the Baroque style. The elm avenue that was built in the Baroque period can still be seen today. The farm buildings and the cattle sheds were connected to it. To the right of the castle portal was the castle chapel. Above the entrance there is still a stone plaque with the three church patrons: St. Leonhard, St. Wolfgang and St. Katharina. The faithful were allowed to enter the chapel on weekdays and Sundays with the permission of the estate owner, as the route to the parish church in Eilsbrunn was too far. The chapel itself was 14.5 meters long and 10 meters wide. The picture of the Holy Family that was in the castle chapel is now the picture on the high altar in the parish church of St. Leonhard. After the Rosenbusch line died out, the Viehhausen manor first passed to Franz von Lerchenfeld-Brennberg in 1777, but then changed hands frequently. In 1848 the property was auctioned and purchased by Friedrich Pustet, owner of a paper factory in Alling. In 1852 the castle was converted by the Poor Clares into a monastery and a girls' school, which was later used by the Servites. The castle is now a three-storey hipped roof building with pilaster structures, a tower with a tent roof and ashlar portals from around 1700. Today the parish church of St. Leonhard von Viehhausen stands next to the castle. Source: Excerpts from the church guide and www.wikipedia.de