Burgberg Castle (Ruin)

The ruin of Burgberg Castle (also: Heimenhofen Castle) lies on a rock outcrop above Burgberg in Allgäu in the district of Oberallgäu in Swabia. The partially preserved north wall of the small fortress was carefully secured and slightly supplemented between 1992 and 1997.

In 1140, a Burkart von Burgberg (Burcperg) appears in written sources as a ministerialis of the Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg. The ministerialis is mentioned as a benefactor of the monasteries of Ottobeuren and St. Ulrich and Afra in Augsburg. Around 1140, a Wernher von Burgberg is also documented as a benefactor of the Augsburg monastery and the new foundation of Ursberg.

The hilltop castle likely originated in the early 12th century. The north wall of a residential tower from this first complex has been preserved, which is of particular interest for regional castle research as one of the oldest Allgäu examples of such a main tower.

After the death of the last Burgberg lords Wernher and Johannes, the lordship passed to the Lords of Rettenberg around 1327. When the last Rettenberg died in 1350, his daughters divided their father's property. Burgberg Castle was awarded to Adelheid von Rettenberg, married to von Waldburg, who sold the fortress as early as 1351 to the brothers Marquard and Oswald von Heimenhofen. The purchase price is recorded as 2040 pounds of Konstanz currency.

In 1361, the brothers divided the property. Burgberg remained with Marquard von Heimenhofen. His brother Oswald acquired the neighboring lordship of Berghofen and began building his new Fluhenstein Castle, whose heavily dilapidated ruins have been preserved on the outskirts of Sonthofen.

In 1440, part of the lordship fell to the Diocese of Augsburg. Due to financial difficulties, Burkart and Konrad von Heimenhofen had to sell further shares to the Counts of Montfort zu Rothenfels near Immenstadt in 1468. The brothers appear in the sources as "poor housekeepers".

Jörg von Heimenhofen was able to buy back the lost shares in 1469 and 1477 and was the sole owner thereafter.

During the German Peasants' War, the rebels plundered the poorly defensible fortress in 1525. In 1546, troops of the Swabian League occupied the residence.

Hans Burkart, the last male descendant of the Heimenhofen family (died 1572), finally sold the lordship for 9000 guilders in 1563 to Count Hugo von Montfort-Rothenfels, after his only son Hans Kaspar had fallen during the Turkish Wars in Bosnia. As early as 1559, Hans Burkart von Heimenhofen had handed over his possessions in the parishes of Hindelang Blaichach, Seifriedsberg, and Fischen to the Count.

In 1564, the Augsburg Bishop Otto Truchsess von Waldburg acquired the castle as a new administrative seat. In 1562, the old Augsburg official castle in Rettenberg had burned down. Count Hugo von Montfort finally transferred the lordship of Burgberg completely to the Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg in 1566 by way of exchange.

In 1606, about 600 rebellious Allgäu peasants forced the release of a prisoner whom the Augsburgers had held in the castle. The following year, the peasants occupied the administrative seat and arrested the episcopal administrator Karl von Hornstein zu Grüningen. However, the troops of the Prince-Bishopric were able to regain the castle shortly thereafter.

During the Thirty Years' War, the complex burned down. The administrative office was moved to nearby Sonthofen, and Burgberg Castle was abandoned. The ruin served the villagers as a welcome quarry in the following centuries.

Today, only larger wall remains are preserved on the north side, which were secured and supplemented between 1992 and 1997. The municipality was advised and supported in the renovation by the castle office of the medieval archaeologist Joachim Zeune. However, only the most striking part of the castle could be renovated. The remaining wall remains continue to decay almost unhindered. Nevertheless, the measures are considered one of the first such "model renovations" in the Allgäu. To the east in front of the castle hill, an information board with a site plan tells the history of the complex.