The 20 Most Amazing Peaks in Landkreis Amberg-Sulzbach

Pilgrimage Church of St. John the Baptist The Johannisberg Church stands on the 605 meter high Johannisberg of the same name, the westernmost foothills of the Upper Palatinate Forest, on the western edge of a prehistoric ring wall. The Count Palatine Frederick IV, a strict Calvinist, considered this "human work as an attempt to impair the sovereignty of God". He promptly had the church blown up in 1594. Half a century later (1652) the church was rebuilt on the Johannisberg. It consists of a nave covered with a gable roof, a square choir flanked on both sides by sacristies with oratories above, a facade tower in the west covered with an eight-sided curved helmet, and a chapel at the southwest corner of the nave, which sits under a pent roof. The top floor of the facade tower houses the bell tower, in which three church bells hang. The altars, the artistic coffered ceiling, the picturesque double gallery and the benches were made by Matthias Pösl from Oberviechtach. The interior of the nave is covered with a coffered ceiling, that of the choir with a lancet vault. The sacristies are covered with groin vaults. The parapets of the nave, which is equipped with two-story galleries, are decorated with pictures from the lives of John, the four evangelists and the four doctors of the church. On the high altar, which dates from 1712, the image of John the Baptist is surrounded by the large figures of his parents, Zacharias and Elisabeth, and outside by the apostles John and James. The side altars from 1717 are dedicated to Mary and Lawrence. The pulpit was taken over in 1715 from the predecessor chapel of the Amberg Mariahilfberg Chapel. As early as 1688, an outside chapel was added to the Johannisberg Church for larger crowds of pilgrims. They even built an outdoor pulpit. During the extension work in 1712/13, the chapel was demolished and rebuilt in 1729. The beautiful acanthus altar in the chapel was created by Hans Ulrich from Vilseck. The Johannisberg Church is the highest church in the Amberg-Sulzbach district. Services are held every year on the Johannisberg Festival and on the Mountain Rescue Festival on the second Sunday in August. Since 1983, a Stations of the Cross have led to the mountain church. Source: Information board

Burgstall Hartenfels The site of the abandoned spur castle is located in the Middle Franconian Jura, on a southwest-facing rocky spur of the Great Hartenfels at 530.6 m above sea level. The castle was probably built during the 13th century by the Lords of Neidstein, but there is no mention of the castle itself. It is only mentioned indirectly in a document dated February 21, 1268, in the name of Heinrich von Hertenvels. In addition to the high medieval fortification on the Hartenfels, there are also the remains of a prehistoric structure at the same location. A long section of the rampart, about half a meter high, has been preserved, which arches around the mountain spur outside the moat of the medieval castle and thus sealed it off. Today, the site of the former castle is completely overgrown with forest, and only two ditches and the remains of the foundation walls of the former ring wall have survived. The former hilltop castle was once divided into two areas, an outer bailey at the transition from the spur to the flat summit area or plateau of the Hartenfels, and a main castle at the rocky tip of the mountain spur, in the best protected place by nature. The outer bailey was protected by a two-meter-deep and about ten-meter-wide moat. The area of the outer bailey is irregularly shaped, as it was adapted to the rocky terrain between the plateau and the rocky spur. As it was easily attacked from the plateau, it had to be protected on its north-east side by a strong wall, of which a 4.50-meter-wide and one-meter-high rampart still remains. Approximately in the middle of this rampart, a 3.80-meter-wide break gives an idea of the former entrance to the castle, and even today you enter the castle grounds at this point. The main castle has a trapezoidal area about 50 meters long and 25 meters wide. On its west and south sides it is well protected by the vertical drop of the rocks by several meters and the steep eastern slope also offered sufficient protection. Only at the northwest corner is a small remnant of a wall still visible above ground. There are no further traces of construction on the flat surface of the main castle, apart from an almost square pit in the middle of the area. This pit measures 4 by 3.50 meters and could be the remains of a cistern or a cellar room. Source: Excerpts from www.wikipedia.de

In any case, always impressive

The St. John's Chapel is located above Königstein and is definitely worth a climb on the beautiful hiking trails.

The little brother of the Rotbühl is a wonderful hiking destination at 667m. A beautiful summit cross and some benches round off the summit visit.

Chapel on a beautiful hill. Very idyllic

A beautiful hill for a chapel, very idyllic.

The summit of the Rotbühl is decorated with a small cross and a nice bench to relax. At 673m, it is the highest point in the Amberg Sulzbach district. The Buchberghütte nearby and the cross-country skiing center also make it interesting for hikers and mountain bikers.