Upper Castle Schmidmühlen - The Upper Castle was built as a moated castle by the Lords of Schmidmühlen. From the middle of the 12th century, these can be traced here, starting with Ernst von Schmidmühlen (1166-1170). Eberhard von Schmidmühlen (1270-1284) and his wife Jakobäa von Sinzenhofen were the parents of Albert von Schmidmühlen, Abbot of St. Emmeram Abbey (1324-1358). The market coat of arms of Schmidmühlen with the mill wheel and hammer first appeared in 1311 as a sign of the Reimbot von Schmidmühlen. In 1363 the brothers Ulrich and Hans Ettenstetter settled here. In 1367 they were replaced by Ulrich Wolf von Nabburg, judge at Rieden. In 1371, Count Palatine Ruprecht I lent the house at Schmidmühlen to Ott the Wolf von Nabburg, his sons Ortlieb (later judge at Murach) and Heinrich and his nephew Heinrich Wolf. Heinrich Wolf, a son of Ott, is mentioned as a judge in Rieden in 1385, 1387 and 1389. In 1381 he married Osanna Paulsdorferin, the widow of Roger Punzinger († 1391), who had previously (1371, 1373, 1375, 1379) held the office of judge in Rieden. Heinrich Wolf is also named after Schmidmühlen. Another Osanna (probably the daughter of the aforementioned) is mentioned in 1408 as the wife of Georg Ettenstatter.[2] The Wolfs were followed by Georg Ettenstetter in 1407, Lienhard Haug in 1463, Heinrich Alberger of Würzburg in 1514-1532 and Wilhelm Hausner of Winbuch in 1546-1551. This family remained in possession of the Upper Castle until 1655. Georg Hausner von Winbuch (1595-1614), caretaker of Regenstauf, was the builder of the present castle. The year 1600 can be found on one of the magnificent door jambs of the knight's hall. After the brothers Hans Jakob, Ludwig and Bartholome Hausner von Winbuch (1614-1655), ownership passed to Christoph von Kürmreuth in 1655. From 1676 to 1720 the electoral councilor and chamberlain Wilhelm Franz Freiherr von Spiering, Lord of Fronberg, came into possession of the castle.