Burghausen Castle

The castle runs the full length of a narrow ridge between the Salzach and a lake behind it, 1,051 metres from end to end, which the Guinness records list as the longest castle complex in the world. It is built as six courtyards in sequence, each with its own gates and defences, so an attacker taking one still faced the next; the main castle sits at the southern end. It was the second residence of the Lower Bavarian dukes and a treasury, and the wealth came from salt shipped down the Salzach. The old town below is a row of tall colourful merchant houses along the river.

History

The castle was founded before 1025 and passed to the Wittelsbachs on the death of Gebhard II, the last count of Burghausen, in 1168; after they became dukes of Bavaria in 1180, Duke Otto I enlarged it. With the first partition of Bavaria in 1255 it became the second residence of the dukes of Lower Bavaria, after Landshut, and work on the main castle began that year under Duke Henry XIII; in 1331 Burghausen and its castle passed to Otto IV, Duke of Lower Bavaria (Wikipedia, Burghausen Castle).

What's there

• The 1,051-metre length - six courtyards in sequence along one ridge.
• The layered defences - each courtyard gated separately from the next.
• The main castle - the ducal residence and museum at the southern end.
• The riverside town - tall painted merchant houses along the Salzach.

When to go

April to October; the outer courtyards are open freely year-round and the museum keeps shorter winter hours. Walking the full length takes an hour or more.

Before you go

Most of the length is open courtyards and walls rather than furnished rooms. The walk from end to end is long. Austria is directly across the river.

Nearby

Altötting lies west; Salzburg is southeast across the border.

Key facts