Schloss Schönburg, castle in Pocking, Germany

Schloss Schönburg is a baroque castle in Pocking that was built between 1676 and 1680 on the site of an older medieval fortress. The three-story main building features rounded corner towers on the east side and side sections on the west side, while a covered walkway connects it to a nearby church.

The castle is first documented in 1121 when the lords of Schönburg served as officials of a monastery. The present building was constructed by Baron Georg Adolf von Schönburg after his elevation to the nobility in 1654, replacing the medieval predecessor.

The name Schönburg refers to the ministerial family first documented in 1121, which served the Mondsee monastery; Bishop Johann von Schönburg (d. 1555) came from it. The castle chaplain lived in the gatehouse added by the Closen family in the mid-18th century, and a covered two-storey passage links the main building to the parish church.

The gatehouse with its three-winged rococo layout and passage stands north of the main building, reached from the Schlossplatz; the walled ornamental garden with its water basin lies to the south. The castle is in Schönburg, a district of Pocking, not in the town centre itself, so plan the approach from Pocking accordingly.

Mechtilde von Arco-Zinneberg was born at Schloss Schönburg in 1879; after marrying the imperial diplomat Karl Max von Lichnowsky she published as Mechtilde Lichnowsky. The Arco-Zinneberg family had bought the castle in 1876. The present owner, Peter Mühlbauer, received the Hypo-Kulturstiftung monument prize in 1996.