Burghausen Castle Germany

Legendary

This German castle is the longest castle complex in the world.

Photo by Polybert49

Burghausen Castle holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest castle complex on Earth. It stretches 1,051 meters along a hilltop, longer than ten football fields lined up end to end.

People lived on this hill as far back as the Bronze Age, thousands of years before the castle was built. Later, Celtic and Roman settlers lived there too, drawn by an important salt trading route nearby.

The castle itself was first written about in the year 1025. In 1168, it passed to a powerful family called the Wittelsbachs, who ruled Bavaria for centuries.

A duke named Heinrich started building an entirely new castle in 1255. Instead of building just on top of the hill, he built it to stretch across the whole ridge.

Over the following years, later dukes kept adding walls, towers, and courtyards. The castle became strongest under Duke Georg of Bavaria, who ruled from 1479 to 1503.

The castle was also used to store Bavaria's royal treasures. Duchesses and widowed royal wives sometimes lived there too, kept safe behind its thick walls.

Later, the castle helped defend the region from outside threats. It was updated over time with stronger walls to handle new kinds of weapons.

Walk the full length of the castle to see its six separate courtyards, each built for a different purpose. Visit the Palas, the main building, now home to a museum filled with paintings and historical treasures. Look out from the castle walls for sweeping views over the Salzach River and the Austrian countryside beyond.