Burg Kirchberg, Medieval castle in Hohenthann, Germany

Burg Kirchberg is a medieval fortified structure in Hohenthann, where stone walls and towers rise above the Bavarian landscape while preserving original construction elements. The facility displays typical features of a castle complex with defensive functions distributed across multiple levels.

A document of Mallersdorf Abbey names a Count Arterius I at Kirchberg in 812; the castle itself is said to have been founded as a Roman fort in 292, a date without documentary support. After the Counts of Kirchberg died out in 1234, the county became a ducal care court district of Bavaria-Landshut, and the ducal administrator lived at the castle, handling administration and justice. The present complex was built in the 14th century by the Lords of Kirchberg.

The name Kirchberg comes from the counts who died out in 1234; their county then became a ducal administrative district, and the castle housed the duke's official responsible for justice. The St. Leonhard chapel in the keep's basement remains the site's religious element. In the 1990s the owners received the Hypo-Kulturstiftung Munich heritage prize for restoring the complex.

The complex lies in Kirchberg, a hamlet of Hohenthann in the Landshut district, on a low rise above open fields. The keep, its three-metre-thick walls and the chapel of St. Leonhard in its basement are the elements to look for; the grounds are recorded as a protected monument, so stay on existing paths. The site is best reached on foot, and the photographs show snow on the fields in winter.

The keep measures 10 by 10.5 metres at its base, with walls three metres thick, and the chapel of St. Leonhard occupies its lower storey. A circular brick outer wall (Zwingermauer) surrounds the complex. The owners received the Hypo-Kulturstiftung Munich heritage prize for restoring the castle in the 1990s.