Burg Kürnberg

Burg Kürnberg stands above the market town of Stamsried on the Haidberg and was founded by local medieval nobility after 1346. Dietrich der Kürner received Stamsried as a fief from Count Palatine Ruprecht II and, with the count’s permission, erected a fortified residence on the hill, from which he and his descendants took the name Kürner von Kürnberg. Dietrich died in 1360 and his sons Marquart, Hans and Dietrich inherited the site. A 1367 record names “Vlreich der Tanner” as living at Kürnberg while Marquart der Kürner served as manorial judge for both local manors. In 1406 Dietrich the Younger died; his widow remarried Hermann den Hertenberger and remained at Stamsried while her sons Marquart, Hans, Degenhard and Dietrich continued to hold Kürnberg.

On 16 January 1422 Hans der Kürner issued a written agreement (a Revers) to Bishop Friedrich of Bamberg concerning the free fief of Kurinberg and the bailiwick of Roding, since the castle was held as a Bamberg fief. On 12 September 1429 Ulrich Warberger bought Kürnberg with the consent of Count Palatine Johann; his son Christoph is recorded as holder in 1452 and Balthasar Warberger in 1467. Later holders included Hans von Plankenfels in the late fifteenth century and, from 1499, Ludwig von Habsberg (d.1520) with his descendants noted in 1530. The Murach family followed: Georg von Murach is named in 1539 and Andreas Georg von Murach in 1580, after which the castle’s holdings were merged administratively with those of Stamsried.

During the Thirty Years’ War the castle was besieged by Swedish forces and in 1634 was destroyed; the site then fell into ruin. At the end of the 1970s the ruins underwent comprehensive conservation and restoration. The place is recorded today as a protected monument (registration D-3-72-161-17) and archaeological finds from the area of the medieval ruin are logged under D-3-6741-0056.