Lobenstein Castle Ruins

The castle ruins Lobenstein is a former Adelsburg, today freely accessible and a beautiful vantage point. Here you can sit relaxed and ponder a bit about how the old lords of the castle used to live here. And how the old walls were gradually destroyed in various wars. After all, the lookout tower has remained at 564 meters.

Lobenstein Castle RuinsAround 1150, Othmar and Rizman von Lobeneck appear in local documents as ministerials of the Margrave of Cham. It is uncertain whether the nobility was referring to the later Lobenstein Castle. We are on safe ground in 1340, when Eberhard von Hof buys an existing "purkstal near Zelle" from Eiban von Peilstein and receives permission from Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian to build there in return for the right to open it. From 1342, Eberhard calls himself Hofer von Lobenstein. He manages a Hofmark in Zell for Bavaria and appoints judges there.
After the castle is destroyed by the Hussites at the beginning of the 15th century, the Hofers run into financial difficulties and become robber barons. In 1443, Duke Albrecht III of Bavaria occupied the castle because Degenhard Hofer had killed some of his subjects. Hans Hofer's part of the castle was taken away from him by Count Palatine Otto II in 1468 for similar crimes. From 1489, Dietrich Hofer was a member of the Löwler Knights' League, which opposed the Bavarian Duke. He conquered the castle and only returned it to Dietrich's son Wolf in 1507. In 1530, Lobenstein became part of the Palatinate, but after the damage it was probably never properly inhabited again.
The Hofers remained the owners because nobody wanted to buy the ruins. The last Hofer to live in Lobenstein was Hans Georg, who had to leave his domain in 1629 because of his Protestant faith. The Bavarian-occupied Lobenstein Castle was probably finally destroyed by the Swedes in 1633. It has remained a ruin ever since.All that is left of Lobenstein Castle today is the residential tower, which seems to literally grow out of the stone of the granite rock tower. The slightly raised entrance was protected by a round wall tower on the southeast corner.
Instead of simple beamed ceilings, barrel vaults were built on Lobenstein with plaster that is still clearly visible today. The residential tower has 3 floors and is 18 m high with a wall thickness of 2.5 m. The walls are built from rough rubble stone and the corners are made of ashlars. In the lower regions between these rocks, remains of walls can still be found that stand out clearly from the rest and could have come from the previous castle. In the basement there are a few narrow light slits, while the larger windows on the upper floors have comfortable seating niches. On the northwest corner of the second floor, the consoles of a toilet bay can still be seen.Source: Excerpts from burgenseite.de

The castle tower is accessible at any time and offers a super beautiful view of the peaks of the Bavarian Forest.