Turmhügelburg Haselberg

The Turmhügelburg Haselberg stands on the western edge of the Haselberg hill, 480 metres above the Schellerbach stream. It is a ruined medieval motte, a small castle built on an artificial mound, near the village of Strahlfeld in Roding. The site overlooks the surrounding countryside from its elevated position in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria. Archaeologists classify it as a medieval mound under the number D-3-6740-0004. The remains are protected as a monument because of their historical importance. The castle may have been begun before 1100 and was probably abandoned by the 13th century. It probably served as a border fortress and the seat of a local noble family in the service of the Bamberg bishops. Some historians think it may have been an earlier version of nearby Burg Schwärzenberg. The motte had a square inner courtyard about twenty-two by twenty-three metres, with rounded corners and a central tower. A wide ditch, up to ten metres across and three metres deep, surrounded the mound, and an outer rampart stood on the uphill side. Today the site is heavily overgrown, but the earthworks and stone foundations are still visible. The mound itself shows the remains of a defensive wall along its edge. Visitors can walk around the outer ditch and see the outline of the inner courtyard. The quiet woodland setting and the broad views across the valley make it a peaceful place to explore the traces of a long-vanished fortress.