Hohenfels Castle Ruins

Hohenfels Castle RuinsThe Knights of Hohenfels are a branch of the Raitenbuch family. They had their ancestral castle in the hamlet of Hausraitenbuch and were ministerials of the Bishop of Regensburg. At the end of the 12th century, the Raitenbuch family moved their headquarters to nearby Hohenfels and called themselves "von Hohenfels" ever since. They owned their castle in Hohenfels as independent property, and later they were also found in Falkenstein and Helfenberg.One Hohenfelser even achieved international fame: On December 28, 1250, Konrad von Hohenfels attempted to murder King Konrad IV on behalf of the Bishop of Regensburg, but had to flee after the failed assassination attempt. King Konrad IV had the castle destroyed, but the attack initially did little harm to the Hohenfelsers: another Konrad even became mayor of the imperial city of Regensburg in 1258. They owe their downfall to another, less spectacular development: the impoverishment of the knights at the end of the 14th century. During this time they repeatedly tried to improve their finances with feuds and raids. In 1366 they placed their rule under the Bohemian king as a fief. The corresponding document speaks of the castle and town of Hohenfels, so the place at the foot of the castle had developed well. Nevertheless, money was still lacking. In 1375 the Hohenfelsers mortgaged their castle to the Palatinate. In 1383 they had to sell it for good: Count Palatine Ruprecht paid them 17,700 guilders. In 1393 the last Hohenfelser Hilpolt died. The castle was occupied by the Palatinate Wittelsbachs with guardians. In 1427 it was destroyed by the Hussites. It was rebuilt, but subsequently lost all practical significance. In 1804 the Hohenfels guardianship was dissolved, the intact castle was sold for demolition and used as a quarry. The 100-meter-long Romanesque castle complex had two keeps. The round keep, built on a rocky peak on the east side to protect the castle entrance, with a high entrance made of quarry stone at a height of over 10 meters, is the only castle building that has survived.Several square castle buildings from the period between 1250 and 1427 were grouped around the square keep, which protected the entrance to the main castle. A Gothic vault that was found in the rubble probably comes from the castle chapel.Source: Excerpts from burgenseite.de / wikipedia.de

The castle was probably built at the beginning of the 12th century by the lords of Hohenfels († 1393), a branch of the Raitenbucher († 1333), the ministerial of the bishop of Regensburg, as an allodialer headquarters.
On December 28, 1250 Konrad von Hohenfels tried on behalf of the Bishop of Regensburg to murder King Konrad IV, but had to flee after the failed assassination. Conrad IV had the castle destroyed, which was then rebuilt. In 1427, the castle was occupied by Palatine Wittelsbach orderlies and later destroyed by Bohemian Hussites. It was rebuilt, but lost importance.
In the 19th century, the castle was sold for demolition and used as a quarry.

The mountain hotel nestles long and narrow in the center of Hohenfels - worth seeing.