Burgruine Mitterberg

The castle sits on a long, narrow plateau extending roughly north to south and punctuated by successive defensive zones. Most of the earthworks remain visible and can be traversed, while only a few stone walls built of dressed ashlar blocks survive in the ground. The plan narrows from a wide northern forecourt and manor area to a compact main castle on the southern plateau, reflecting the evolution from a manorial complex to a concentrated stronghold.

At the northern edge a ditch with a small conduit drew water from the Thurnhofbach uphill toward the original entrance. This channelled ditch led to the gate area, where no stone gatehouse survives and the entrance is interpreted as having included wooden gatework; a later access road now follows the former approach and skirts the forecourts to the next defensive line.

The manor farm and forecourt occupy a broad terrace about one hundred metres across and contain a small round defensive work with a diameter near nine metres. Earth banks and ramparts that once enclosed this area are faintly visible and are traversed by the later road. On the eastern margin of the forecourt soil hummocks and depressions record former buildings and a central hollow likely marks a well.

A deep first section ditch climbs from the stream and was once crossed by a bridge at the road; this ditch continues along the northeast with an outer bank and formed a strong forward line. Beyond it a first outer bailey shows clear traces of masonry and earthworks. The southern half of that bailey preserves a horseshoe-shaped outer wall lined internally with stone and two deliberate gaps in the facing, while an inner horseshoe wall with a thickness of about one and a half metres and an internal diameter near six and a half metres stands within it. This paired wall arrangement is interpreted as a later circular gun emplacement, comparable in layout to later artillery roundels. Additional enclosures and a round hollow toward the stream suggest further forecourt structures and a small tower, while steep scarps mark other boundary walls.

A second deep ditch forms the next defensive circuit and remains an impressive feature in the terrain. Where that ditch meets the second outer bailey, building foundations appear as raised soil on the northern edge and a round depression likely served as a cistern. The southern sector of this bailey preserves the substantial foundation of a high round tower, with an internal diameter of about four metres and an external diameter of roughly twelve metres. The tower foundation opens to the northeast in a way that resembles an entrance passage. Drawn prospects of 1664 depict seven fallen artillery pieces lying near this tower, and a shield wall protecting the main castle is visible only in those historical views.

The third defensive ditch, sometimes called the castle moat, survives as an imposing trench. A prospect dated 1654 shows a bridge spanning this ditch between the remains of a shield wall and a round tower, indicating a designed crossing at that time, while no bridge remains in place in the terrain today.

The main castle stands on a roughly fifty by fifty metre plateau about thirty-eight metres above the Thurnhofbach. The principal residence, interpreted as a tower house or hall building, measured about fifteen by twenty metres externally. Close by is an impressive vaulted cellar and a vaulted descent that once led to the castle chapel. Substantial wall fragments, including a doorway, remain in the area of the principal building. The surrounding curtain wall is now expressed chiefly as steep earth scarps, and to the south of the main house the foundations of three shell towers built of ashlar and quarry stone mark the line of the southern defences.

The actual steward’s farm historically linked to the castle corresponds to the neighbouring farm known locally as Braitenaichinger. Excavations conducted below the principal building yielded pottery shards and iron fragments; those iron objects are taken as physical evidence of the violent destruction recorded for the main stronghold. Overall, the site today preserves its sequence of defensive ditches, bailey terraces, tower foundations and cellar vaulting as tangible traces of its long medieval occupation.