Lichtenberg Castle (Upper Franconia)

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Lichtenberg Castle
Schlossberg tower on the former keep

Schlossberg tower on the former keep

Creation time : 12th Century
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Ruin (main castle) ,
preserved or essential parts preserved (keep with observation tower, circular wall, kennel)
Place: Lichtenberg (Upper Franconia)
Geographical location 50 ° 23 '6 "  N , 11 ° 40' 44"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 23 '6 "  N , 11 ° 40' 44"  E
Height: 558  m above sea level NHN
Lichtenberg Castle (Bavaria)
Lichtenberg Castle

The Lichtenberg Castle is the ruin of a Spur castle on 558  m above sea level. NHN in the north of the town of the same name Lichtenberg on the western edge of the Selbitztal . The city belongs to the district of Hof in the Bavarian administrative district of Upper Franconia .

history

View of the castle ruins, lithograph from the end of the 19th century

The castle was probably built in the 12th century. Whether a previous building existed has not been conclusively clarified. The dukes of Merania are considered as builders . They died out in 1248 with the death of Duke Otto II . Through his mother Beatrix , who was married to Hermann II of Orlamünde, the rule and castle were inherited by the Counts of Orlamünde .

In 1414, Count Sigismund (1406–1447) received the complex through an inheritance division . As a result of the disputes between the Counts of Orlamünde and the Landgraves of Thuringia , he had to give them a fiefdom to the Elector Friedrich I of Brandenburg in 1427. A short time later the castle was sold to Caspar von Waldenfels . In 1430 the castle was successfully defended against the Hussites and in 1444 in the Waldenfels feud against a Nuremberg contingent. During the Second Margrave War , the castle was destroyed in 1554 by imperial troops under Heinrich von Plauen in pursuit of the Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades .

From 1560 a new castle-like building followed. This was in 1618 by the brothers Christoph III. and Hans Rudolf von Waldenfels to the Lithuanian-Polish prince Janusius Radziwiłł . Through his widow, the palace and rule came to Margrave Christian von Brandenburg-Bayreuth in 1628 .

In 1634 the castle was burned down by imperial troops during the Thirty Years' War . Restored, the existing buildings burned down again in 1682. There was no reconstruction.

The cartographer Johann Christoph Stierlein completed a very precise map of the castle area for the first time in 1816 with the existing inventory.

description

Castle ruins with the old town behind
Remnants of the surrounding wall

Lichtenberg Castle rises directly adjacent to Lichtenberg's historic city center. Lichtenberg was granted city rights very early on and is one of the small towns with a historical core. The area of ​​the historic town center is surrounded by well-fortified walls and offered extended protection for the castle area. The main street, which leads past the town hall, gradually rises and leads to the castle area on a hill in the north. Similar to a mountain spur, it is difficult to access from other directions.

The castle area is clearly recognizable. Higher buildings from different eras delimit the area from the city. In the courtyard stands the Schlossberg Tower , a 25 meter high observation tower , the 1936 high to the seven-meter wall stump of the former, from the Middle Ages derived the keep was erected. Extensive cellars that have only recently been renovated have also been preserved. The sides facing away from the city reveal parts of the curtain wall or a kennel . The elevated position offers a comprehensive view of the mountains and valleys to the north.

literature

Web links

Commons : Burg Lichtenberg (Upper Franconia)  - Collection of images
Wikisource: Liechtenberg in the Topographia Franconiae (Mathäus Merian)  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Chronicle, year 1936> Schloßbergturm on the website of Burgfreunde Lichtenberg