Burg Wernstein, Medieval castle in Wernstein am Inn, Austria.

Burg Wernstein sits on a hilltop overlooking the Inn River with the typical layout of a medieval fortress featuring a perimeter wall and gateway entrance. The setting provides elevated views across the river valley and surrounding landscape.

Wernstein was first documented in the 12th century and built around 1126 by the Counts of Formbach as a Vorwerk, an outlying stronghold, of Neuburg. No independent noble family ever resided there; the estate was always administered by castle bailiffs (Burgvögte) of Neuburg. In 1200 an Ortlof de propugnaculo is mentioned, who also called himself Ortlof ob der Wer. Around 1355 Eberhard V. von Walsee redeemed the Passau pledge on the castles, and in 1379 Duke Albrecht III mortgaged Neuburg and Wernstein to Otto von Zelking.

The name Wernstein derives from the medieval term 'Wer', referring to the fortified outpost (Vorwerk) of Neuburg; in 1200 a certain Ortlof de propugnaculo, also called Ortlof ob der Wer, is documented here. The castle is private property of the family of Ernst Dietrich and not open to the public, so it can only be viewed from outside. In front of the castle stands a copy of the Marian column, made in 1646 after a model by Johann Jacob Pock.

Burg Wernstein is privately owned by the family of Ernst Dietrich and is not open to the public, so it can only be viewed from outside. The grounds around the granite rock have been excavated into a deep, broad artificial ditch, and a pond lies in front of the castle. The opposite Bavarian bank holds Schloss Neuburg am Inn.

Inside the curtain wall no separate buildings stood: the residential and utility rooms were built into the wall itself, a layout known as a Mantelburg. The rock around the castle was cut away to form an artificial ditch, and a pond in front added further protection.