Burg Thalberg

The building complex of the upper castle (Oberburg) is 90 meters long and 23 meters wide. Most of the existing structure from the Romanesque period has been preserved. Two massive square towers stand at the narrow ends of the castle. The 24-meter-high keep (Bergfried) in the east protects the gatehouse, which is constructed from ashlar blocks and rubble stone. It is connected to the lower western tower by a twelve-meter-high curtain wall.

Adjoining the keep is the 50-meter-long outer bailey (outer courtyard). Its northern side is flanked by a three-story residential building dating back to the Romanesque period, though it was expanded during the late Gothic era. While the exterior remains intact, most of the interior ceilings have collapsed, making it effectively a roofed ruin.

To the west, the likewise three-story palas (residential wing) encloses the inner courtyard. Its northern tract was rebuilt in the late Gothic period, while the southern wing was redesigned in the 17th century. Located on the upper floor of the transverse wing that separates the inner and outer courtyards is the two-bay, late Gothic Chapel of St. Nicholas (St. Niklas-Kapelle). This chapel underwent a Gothic Revival renovation around 1910. Its choir termination projects into the outer courtyard like an oriel. Adjoining the chapel is a small hall featuring a central column and a Baroque stucco ribbed vault.

The living quarters on the first floor of the palas were also restored in the early 20th century, following a long period of roofless decay. During this process, the old coffered ceilings were lost, and the courtyard galleries were replaced with unadorned exterior corridors. Several Romanesque details have survived on the walls of the various buildings, such as the round-arched entrance to the keep. Located 4.5 meters above the ground, this entrance features two inset colonnettes, of which only the bud capitals and bases have survived. Furthermore, remnants of an ornamental frieze on the eastern gate complex and two bricked-up bifora (double-arched) windows are visible.

In the 15th century, the entire castle complex was surrounded by a low wall, creating a narrow zwinger (outer ward). The former battlements are no longer extant. At the foot of the hill lies the outer castle (Vorburg), built in 1499. It features its own gatehouse with a former drawbridge portal and is connected to the main castle by a curtain wall. A three-story granary dating from the 17th century occupies the southwest corner of the spacious courtyard.