Burgruine Schellenberg, Rock castle observation tower in Georgenberg, Germany
Burgruine Schellenberg is a rock castle ruin built on a natural stone formation near Georgenberg, featuring massive granite blocks and a solid foundation. The structure integrates with the mountain's geology and offers a wide view of the surrounding landscape from above.
The castle was founded on 23 August 1347 by the lords of Waldau auf Waldthurn. In 1360 Ulrich von Waldau held Schellenberg as a fief from King Charles IV, who passed it to Duke Otto of Bavaria in 1373. Pledged to the Franconian knight Philipp von Guttenberg, it was taken and razed on 11–12 July 1498 by Margrave's captain Konrad von Wirsberg during the Guttenberg feud. The Waldthurn family redeemed the ruin but never rebuilt it; in 1540 it passed to the Wirsbergs, and in 1648 Emperor Ferdinand III sold it with Waldthurn to Wenzel von Lobkowitz.
The castle was founded on 23 August 1347 by the lords of Waldau auf Waldthurn and carried the Slavic name Lug. In 1666 the Lobkowitz estate register described a fortified site on a high rock called the Hundsstein, with a drawbridge, a single entrance, outer courts and ring walls, already unroofed and overgrown by tall forest.
The ruins are reachable via a marked hiking trail from the Planer-Höhe parking lot, which climbs through the forest up the mountainside. The walk takes about 30 minutes and is manageable for visitors with average fitness, though sturdy footwear is helpful on uneven ground.
The ruin sits at 826 metres, the highest point in the Neustadt an der Waldnaab district, on granite crags almost 10 metres tall. The wooden tower stands on the residential tower, whose walls still reach 9 metres high and 2 metres thick. A footbridge from the neighbouring rock head gives access to the west corner.
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