Burgruine Hieburg

The Hieburg is a ruined hillside castle in the Rosental district of Neukirchen am Großvenediger, a market town in Salzburg’s Upper Pinzgau. It stands beside the forest at the start of the climb to the Gerlospass, a popular day-trip destination. The ruins overlook the valley and the road that winds up toward the pass. Built at the end of the 13th century, the fortress was first recorded in 1290 under Walter von Neukirchen. Friedrich von Velben enlarged it with timber outbuildings and a high ring wall by 1297. Lightning struck in 1544, damaging part of the structure, and later fires and two changes of owner led Christoph von Küenberg to declare it abandoned in 1620. A fierce blaze in 1661 finished its active life, leaving only fragments to survive. Visitors can still see remains of the great hall, a possible chapel, sections of the ring wall and the keep whose base measures eleven by eleven metres. Traces of the old moat are also visible. The site is closed today because parts of the ruins collapsed in 1958 and again after bombing in the Second World War.