Burgruine Reichenstein

The Burgruine Reichenstein stands on the 874-metre summit of the Reichenstein in the Upper Palatinate Forest above the village of Stadlern. It is a medieval hilltop ruin, once a fortified stronghold guarding routes east from Bohemia. The Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection lists it as an archaeological site with surviving foundations and remnants. The castle’s history reaches back to the 12th or 13th century. It passed from Bohemian nobles to the Landgraves of Leuchtenberg in 1333. After Hussite raids in 1431, Duke Johann of Neunburg reclaimed it in 1432. Later owners included Jobst Schlüsselfelder and the Fuchs von Wallburg family, who held Reichenstein until the 19th century. The round bergfried still rises as a stump above the forest. Visitors find a quiet summit with low stone walls and the tower base amid spruce and beech. The surrounding Upper Palatinate Forest stretches to the horizon, broken only by distant ridges. On clear days the view takes in the gentle hills of the Bavarian Forest National Park. The silence is broken only by wind in the treetops and the occasional call of a jay.