Burgstall Gegenpoint

Burgstall Gegenpoint is the remains of a ruined spur castle from the high Middle Ages. It stands about two kilometres east of Fürstenfeld Abbey in Fürstenfeldbruck, Bavaria. The site was abandoned in the 15th century and its walls were taken for building materials. Today only the foundations are visible. The first mention of the name appeared in a deed from 857 CE. The site once belonged to the lords of Gegenpoint, ministeriales serving Duke Henry the Lion. The castle’s history is tied to the rise and fall of the House of Welf. Between 1147 and 1340 the Gegenpoints held court here, owning much of the surrounding land. Their position on the border between Welf and Wittelsbach lands proved fatal. After the Welfs’ downfall the family’s estate was divided and sold, and the castle was torn down by Fürstenfeld Abbey. By the late 14th century the Gegenpoints had vanished from history. A memorial stone and information plaque mark the former east entrance. A large wooden cross shows where the castle chapel of St Nikolaus once stood. The Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Objects records the ruin as a medieval castle site. Local legend speaks of crying children heard by pressing an ear to the ground. Nineteenth-century citizens of nearby Emmering claimed to have found a network of tunnels in the surrounding woods.