Burgruine Haimburg, Castle ruin in Haimburg, Berg, Bavaria, Germany

Burgruine Haimburg is the ruin of a hilltop castle on a 550 m elevation above the Haimburg district of Berg bei Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz. Surviving are the remains of a round bergfried, two gate structures, foundation walls, vaulted cellars and a deep double neck ditch. The lower parts of the castle ring date to the Romanesque period, the other remains to the 15th and 16th centuries.

The castle was first mentioned in a charter of Emperor Henry III and was built by the Lords of Haimburg. After their line died out in 1262 it passed to the Lords of Stein, whose branch then called itself von Haimburg. In 1504, during the Landshut War of Succession, Nuremberg troops took and burned it; after rebuilding, Swedish troops burned it again in 1648.

The name Haimburg passed from the founding family to the Stein lords, whose branch adopted it after 1262, and the site later gave its name to the Bavarian Pflegamt Haimburg. Pfalzgraf Johann von Neumarkt rebuilt the castle in 1434 as a hunting lodge, so the ruin reflects both noble residence and administrative use.

You can reach the site on foot via Burgweg and explore it freely as it is open to visitors and researchers. The stones are part of a protected monument, so take care when walking among the remains and treat the old structures with respect.

The castle was burned down by Swedish troops in 1648 after Nuremberg refused them a payment of 600 guilders. The round bergfried, two gate structures, cellar vaults and a deep double neck ditch survive, with the lower ring walls probably Romanesque.