Schloss Herrnfehlburg

Schloss Herrnfehlburg stands in the village of the same name in Niederbayern, near Rattiszell. It sits on the wooded slopes of the Gallnerberg, where the first owners built a medieval stronghold. The site includes the castle, a chapel, and farm buildings arranged around a walled courtyard. The castle chapel, St Thomas, was once the private chapel for the lords of Herrnfehlburg. Traces of high and late medieval structures remain beneath the present buildings. The castle’s history goes back to the 12th century, when the Velberger family held the land. Over the centuries it passed through the hands of the Ursenpecken, Ebmer, Leutner, Eisengrein, Ammon, Lerchenfelder, Paumgartner and Höller families. In 1806 the Ettl family took possession and still live there today. The castle’s architecture reflects these changes, with a late medieval core and later Baroque additions. Today the rectangular two-storey castle has a plain rural-Baroque façade under a high hipped roof. The attached chapel of St Thomas has a steep spire and a simple interior. Inside, a wooden gallery and altar date from around 1740, while outside a memorial stone recalls a child of the Ammon family who died in 1620. The farm courtyard and timbered outbuildings show the site’s continuing agricultural role.