Haus Murach, Castle ruin in Oberviechtach, Germany

Haus Murach is a castle ruin in Oberviechtach with a stone keep rising 20 meters (65 feet) that offers views across the Upper Palatinate Forest toward the Bohemian border. The site includes the main tower and the foundations of surrounding buildings that reveal the fortress's original layout and scale.

Murach was first recorded around 1110, when a "Gerunch de Mourach" accompanied Berengar I of Sulzbach; the counts of Sulzbach are presumed to have built it. The 20-metre keep dates from the 13th century, and the 14 by 12.7 metre residential tower was felled in 1233 according to dendrochronology. In 1428 and 1433 Hussite mercenaries besieged the castle unsuccessfully after the Battle of Taus. After 1803 the complex was sold and decayed as locals quarried its stone.

The name "Haus Murach" comes from the late Middle Ages, when the castle was used as a residence (Middle High German hus) by the Ortenburg-Murach family. Local legends about the castle grew over the centuries and echo the harsh conditions of serfdom, which lasted until 1848.

The ruin stands at 585 metres on a hill northwest of Obermurach, reached on foot from the village; no gate key is needed. The keep, outer walls and main castle walls survive in part, and the terrain is uneven underfoot. The site was bought back by the Bavarian finance administration in 1844 and conserved in stages after 1893 and during the 20th century.

The keep's residential tower, built in 1233 according to dendrochronological dating, measured 14 by 12.7 metres with walls 2.5 metres thick and stood about 16.5 metres high. Elaborately worked window shapes on the third floor point to a representative room there. The dungeon and chapel can now only be guessed at from the surviving foundation walls.