Germany · Still standing
Harburg Castle
Harburg Castle is a largely complete medieval hill castle on a steep spur above the Wörnitz valley in Bavaria. Originating in the 11th–12th centuries and extended in the late medieval and early modern periods, the complex comprises a main castle with curtain wall and six towers, an outer bailey and a cluster of domestic and defensive buildings. It remains a preserved, visitable site managed by a cultural foundation.
First raised
1150
Its prime
1730
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1730
The shape it held in its prime.
Perched on a steep wooded limestone spur, the castle presents a continuous pale plastered curtain wall pierced by small embrasures and topped by a parapet walk; six towers (round and angular) rise above the wall, two larger keeps mark the core, and a long multi-storey hall block with rows of rectangular windows sits at the centre. Roofs are steeply pitched with red-orange clay tiles and several towers end in conical or onion-like tiled caps; an outer bailey and lower gate sit down the slope.
Its story
The story of Harburg Castle.
Kuno of Harburg (Cuno de Horburc), half-brother of Berchtesgaden's founder Berengar of Sulzbach, apparently held the Harburg by the end of the 11th century. The castle itself is first mentioned in 1150, when the 13-year-old Staufer co-king Henry Berengar, writing to Constantinople about the Battle of Flochberg against Welf VI, noted he was staying at Harburg — then a Staufian imperial castle.
Residential buildings extended the fortress in the 15th century, and further work from the 16th to the 18th century completed a prince's residence for the House of Oettingen-Wallerstein. Under Prince Albert Ernest II of Oettingen-Oettingen (1669–1731) the castle church, prince's building and hall building were remodelled, but the fortified character survived, including a particularly well-preserved late-medieval ring wall with defensive corridor and six towers. Since 2000 the castle has belonged to the Prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein Cultural Foundation.
Step inside
12 places to explore in 1730.
The record describes 12 distinct spots at Harburg Castle — including 3 interiors: hall building (interior), castle chapel (interior), bakery building and service yard (interior/exterior). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Harburg Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1730 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Harburg Castle.
The families that held Harburg Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Oettingen-Wallerstein
The princely House of Oettingen-Wallerstein owned the castle, completing it as a prince's residence between the 16th and 18th centuries; since 2000 it belongs to the family's cultural foundation.
