Burg Allersburg

The Burg Allersburg once stood on the Kirchenberg hill above the village of Allersburg in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria. It was one of two medieval noble seats in the area, the other being the hilltop fortress on the Weinberg and the water castle Alarasbach in the Lauterach valley below. The Allersburg was probably home to the Allersburger ministerial family who served the counts of Hohenburg, first recorded in 1210 with Karl, Seyfried and Ullrich von Allersburg. The Allersburg line died out in the 14th century and the estate passed to the Frickenhofer family, then to the Punzinger zum Roßstein and finally to the Herren von Scharfenberg by 1500. Today the site is covered by the fortified churchyard of St Michael’s and the church itself, parts of which may contain remains of the old castle chapel and curtain wall. Visitors walk through the quiet village to the church on the hilltop and see the 19th-century cemetery enclosed by a high stone wall. The church of St Michael stands where the castle chapel once stood, and the surrounding wall incorporates fragments of the medieval defences. The peaceful setting overlooks the Lauterach valley and the rolling hills of the Oberpfalz.