Winzer Castle

Winzer Castle, locally known as Burgruine Winzer or Burg Oberwinzer, is a hill top castle above the village of the same name, in the Bavaria region in Germany.

The village of Winzer was first mentioned in 1005 A.D. It belonged to the Duke of Bavaria who ceded it to the Bishop of Bamberg in 1009 A.D. Subsequently the bishop then had one of his unfree nobles build Winzer Castle to protect the village and the surrounding area. The nobles then started to call themselves 'Winzerer'. In 1190 the fief of Winzer was mentioned for the first time. The Winzerer's became knights in 1230 and died out in 1324.

From 1324 until 1558 Winzer Castle was owned by the Lords of Puchberg and from 1558 until 1608 by the House of Schwarzenberg. During the ownership of Otto Heinrich von Schwarzenberg the castle was considerably enlarged and embellished.

In 1744, during the War of the Austrian Succession, the castle was blown up by the light infantry troops under Baron Franz von der Trenck. It was never rebuilt and remained a ruin. During the 19th century the ruined castle was used as a quarry for cheap building materials by the locals. And although it was declared a monument later that century, not much of it remained.

At present the site of Winzer Castle is freely accessible. There are only small, unconnected, ruined wall parts which make it hard to envision how the castle originally must have looked. But nice views from the surrounding countryside.

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