Haidenkofen Castle

The Turmhügel Haidenkofen is a vanished medieval motte lying in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria. It stands 250 metres east of the bridge over the Hartlaber, a branch of the Große Laber, and 450 metres south-east of Haidenkofen church. The site is registered as a protected archaeological monument under the number D-3-7140-0044. Its profile has been levelled by centuries of ploughing, leaving only a faint trace visible from the air.

Historians believe the small fortress once controlled the river crossing and protected the Ochsenstraße. This medieval trade route linked important towns and carried merchants and livestock across the countryside. No exact dates survive for the castle’s construction or destruction, so its story remains partly in shadow.

Today the mound is completely flat and hard to see on the ground. A walk along the riverbank shows only farmland and the modern bridge. From above, the faint outline of the old earthworks can still be traced in the soil.