Wilde Schneeburg, Oberried, Medieval castle ruins in Oberried, Germany

Wilde Schneeburg is a vanished spur castle site on the western slope of the Hochfahrn, about 300 metres above the Schneeberger Hof between Oberried and St. Wilhelm. No walls remain; the elongated, three-headed castle rock still shows piles of rubble masonry, fragments of roof and floor tiles, sandstone window jambs, a flattened middle rock head and a partly filled-in neck ditch cut across the narrow ridge.

The castle was first recorded in 1302 as "nuwe unde wilde Snevspurg"; pottery finds point to construction in the second half of the 13th century. Its builders and namesakes are presumed to be the Schnewlin, one of Freiburg's wealthiest families. After the sale to the knights Heinrich and Wilhelm Kolman the castle was enlarged, but disputes with Freiburg, probably over charcoal production and trade, led to its destruction by a Freiburg militia in early autumn 1314. It was never rebuilt.

The name "nuwe unde wilde Snevspurg", recorded in 1302, means "new and wild Snow Castle"; the Schnewlin family of Freiburg, its presumed builders, are echoed in "Schnee". The site lies on the climbing rocks of Gfällmatte, and the Schneeberger Hof just below is a rest stop on the hike between Oberried and St. Wilhelm.

The castle site lies on the western slope of the Hochfahrn, about 300 metres above the Schneeberger Hof, halfway between Oberried and St. Wilhelm in the Bruggatal valley. There are no marked paths to the rock itself, so visitors need sure footing on steep, pathless terrain. The three-headed castle rock stands next to the Gfällmatte climbing rocks.

The elongated rock has three heads; the flattened middle head and a level area between the front and middle heads hint at further buildings. On the mountain side, a partly filled-in neck ditch cuts the narrow rock ridge, and its plateau-like southeastern end may have carried an outer bailey.