Trautenberg Castle (Ruin)

Trautenberg Castle is a castle ruin on a hill near the district of Trautenberg in the municipality of Krummennaab in the Tirschenreuth district of Bavaria. Trautenberg Castle was, alongside Scheyern Castle, one of the oldest castles in Southern Germany.

The hilltop castle was built by the Lords of Trautenberg as their ancestral seat. The noble family of Trautenberger had been settled in the area since the 10th century and was first mentioned by name in 1244 with Marquard de Trutenberch.

After the Trautenbergers moved to their more conveniently located Reuth Castle in Reuth, they sold Trautenberg Castle to their relatives, the Pfreimder, in whose possession it remained until 1412.

Further owners mentioned include the Schütz von Leineck until 1557, the Lords of Heldrit until 1570, the Lords of Löschwitz until 1573, the Lords of Brand and von Stibar until 1597, and the Lords von der Grün until 1648. In 1608, Hanns Georg von der Grün built Reuth Castle below the castle.

In the 17th century, the castle began to decay; it became a margravial fief and was handed over to Hans Heinrich von Rabenstein. From 1690 to 1840, it was owned by Hans Wilhelm von Hirschberg, then by the bourgeois families Schneid and Schmid, and in 1890 by the von Lindenfels family.

Of the former triangular castle complex, only remnants of the shield wall and the deep, rock-cut neck ditch remain, as well as rubble heaps of former buildings and the keep.