Burgruine Haimburg

The Burgruine Haimburg stands on a 550-metre hill above the village of Haimburg in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria. It was built by the lords of Haimburg and first appears in a charter of Emperor Heinrich III. The ruins include parts of a round keep, two gatehouses, cellar vaults and a deep double neck ditch. Lower sections of the ring wall date from the Romanesque period. The site witnessed many changes of ownership. After the Haimburg line died out in 1262, the castle passed to the lords of Stein, then to the Elector Ruprecht I in 1388. Pfalzgraf Johann von Neumarkt turned it into a hunting lodge in 1434. During the Landshuter War of Succession in 1504 it was burned by Nuremberg troops, then rebuilt. In the Thirty Years War it was sacked by imperial forces in 1634 and finally burned by the Swedes in 1648. Visitors walk among the remains of the round keep and two gate towers. Parts of the cellar vaults and the double neck ditch are still visible. The lower ring wall shows the older Romanesque work. The hilltop offers wide views over the surrounding countryside.