Burgstall Vager

The Burgstall Vager, also known as Vogtturm or Fager, stands on the Haider-Burgstein hillside above Kirchberg in the Berchtesgadener Land district. It was built in the late 12th century by the Lords of Vageras, who served the Counts of Peilstein. The site overlooks the Moserwirts inn and sits halfway up the slope of the Bürgermeisterhöhe at about 535 metres above sea level. The castle was mentioned in 1177 and passed to the Archbishopric of Salzburg between 1211 and 1218. By the mid-13th century it appears in Enikel’s Fürstenbuch as ‘…en hous heizzet Vager.’ In 1262 it was destroyed alongside nearby Amerang and Kirchberg castles by Duke Heinrich XIII. Archaeologists uncovered a twelve-sided keep with a diameter of about 8.5 metres in 2001. The remains are now protected as a monument. Today the site is a stop on the Reichenhaller Burgenweg, a 30-kilometre circular walk linking seventeen castles and fortresses around Bad Reichenhall. From the hilltop there are wide views across the valley towards Kirchberg and the surrounding countryside. The path passes other ruins such as the Amerang tower and Karlstein castle, each within a kilometre or two of the Burgstall.