In the early modern era, the Oberbürg was considered one of the most magnificent mansions in Nuremberg. Originally there was a permanent pond house of the Reichsministeriale von Laufamholz on the banks of the Pegnitz in Laufamholz.
A former baroque manor house dating from around 1700, located on the Pegnitz River.
History and Tour
In August 1943, air raids destroyed a once important manor house in the Nuremberg district of Lauf am Holz: Oberbürg Castle. Today, if you pass the two flanking towers at the entrance, all that remains of the former three-part castle complex is the farmyard, enclosed by three wings. A densely overgrown ruin. Only the remains of the walls remain of the four-winged main castle, secured by a moat and the Pegnitz branch, with round towers at the corners, and a reminder of a bygone era.
Oberbürg Castle, entrance to the former farmyard Oberbürg Castle, entrance to the former farmyard Oberbürg Castle may date back to a 13th-century castle. The Weiherhaus (pond house) was built by the imperial ministerials of Lauffenholtz (Laufamholz) north of the Lorenzer Reichswald (Imperial Forest) on the banks of the Pegnitz River. It was probably a fortified, freestanding, house-like building with residential, representative, administrative, and commercial functions. However, it is more likely that the complex was only built after a division of property at the beginning of the 15th century, after the property had been acquired by Hans Groland the Younger. In 1487 or 1507, his sons Nikolaus and Peter Groland converted a farmstead – presumably a half-timbered building on a sandstone base – that had burned down during the First Margrave War between Albrecht Achilles of Brandenburg-Ansbach and the city of Nuremberg into a moated castle. It had a square floor plan, a moat, four towers, and a surrounding moat spanned by a bridge.
After changing hands from 1539 onwards, Oberbürg Castle became a freehold property under Bonaventura von Furtenbach in 1542, without ties to the empire. The next owner, Jörg Rayger, commissioned more extensive construction work in the mid-16th century, during which the castle was equipped with two residential buildings, a gatehouse, and a forecourt with outbuildings in front of the castle pond. Around 1563, further structural extensions were made under Georg Kandler, the owner of the Hammer industrial estate, of which the ruins of the manor house, an inn, the clock house dating from the mid-16th century, and the homes of the workers' families can still be visited today. Further changes of ownership followed until Margaretha Susanna Countess von Polheim gave the castle a Baroque splendor in the early 18th century, and it developed into a social center for the nobility. Emigrants from Austria in particular were now guests at Oberbürg. After the countess's death, the owners changed again.
Oberbürg Castle, Farmyard Oberbürg Castle, Farmyard In 1943, the castle was destroyed in a bombing raid; only the farmyard to the west survived. In the 1960s, most of the castle ruins were demolished. It is hoped that future uses will arise, as the potential certainly exists.
The exterior can be visited year-round and at any time.
Translated by Google •
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