Velburg Castle (Ruin)

The high medieval to early modern castle ruin of Velburg, also known as Velberg, is the remnant of a former castle that once stood on the rocky summit of the Schlossberg at an altitude of 621.8 meters above the Frauenbach valley. The ruin is located immediately east of the town of Velburg in the municipality of the same name in the Upper Palatinate district of Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany. The former count's castle, which only emerged from the darkness of history in 1129, was damaged in the Thirty Years' War and probably abandoned thereafter. Today, thanks to the accessible keep, it serves as a viewpoint.

The hilltop castle, whose exact origins are unknown, was first mentioned in 1129 and was owned by the Lords of Velburg until 1217, who were first named with Counts Gerhard and Hermann von Velburg in 1156. In 1188, the Austrian noble family of Clamm inherited the castle, and in 1190, Otto von Velburg accompanied Emperor Frederick Barbarossa on the Third Crusade. A comes de Velburch (Count of Velburg) from the same family is documented until 1231.

After the extinction of the Velburg counts, the castle passed to the Wittelsbachs and was alternately occupied by Upper Bavarian and Palatinate administrators. Around 1450, the castle almost completely burned down, was rebuilt, and in 1505, after the Landshut War of Succession, came to the newly founded Duchy of Pfalz-Neuburg.

During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was destroyed by Swedish troops and in 1790 was used as a quarry for the construction of the Velburg parish church. In the 1980s, the remains of the castle were secured.

Of the former castle complex with a triangular layout, parts of the reconstructed keep on a base area of 8x8 meters and remnants of walls are still preserved.