Ruine Schellenburg

The Schellenburg is a ruined hilltop fortress standing on a narrow ridge 750 metres above sea level above the Isar. It overlooks the Lenggries valley from a spur that drops steeply on three sides, making the site hard to reach. The ruins lie 1 300 metres north-west of the Wegscheid chapel in the municipality of Lenggries. The name Schellenburg first appeared in the late 19th century, though medieval records call the same place Neuburg. The fortress was probably built around 1160 on orders of the Bishop of Freising by local nobles from the Gotzing-Schellenberg family. By 1186 written sources mention men called von Neuenburg, and in 1287 the Duke of Bavaria granted the Neuburg tithe to Fürstenfeld Abbey. The castle seems to have been abandoned or destroyed by about 1250 and later used as a farm. Traces of a cheese-producing steward’s house survive from 1289. Today a single corner of the curtain wall remains, roughly two metres long, 1.3 metres thick and half a metre high, marking the entrance to a rectangular building about twelve by ten metres. A short stretch of ditch and low ramparts show where the outer defences once stood. A small square mound hints at a collapsed keep. The steep crags and narrow rock passages mean the site can only be reached on foot or horseback, rewarding visitors with quiet views over the Isar valley and the surrounding Alps.