Schloss Neidstein is a castle located in the

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in the municipality of

Etzelwang Etzelwang is a municipality in the district of Amberg-Sulzbach in Bavaria in Germany. History Etzelwang has existed as a parish since the second half of the 11th century. However, the present municipality of Etzelwang was not created until the Ba ...

. It was the seat of a Hofmark (a lower legal entity) during the

Palatinate-Sulzbach Palatinate-Sulzbach was the name of two separate states of the Holy Roman Empire located in modern Amberg-Sulzbach, Bavaria, Germany, ruled by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Palatinate-Sulzbach (1569–1604) Palatinate-Sulzbach was p ...

period (16th–18th centuries). The castle, with its 165 hectares of forest and meadows, is now part of the Schergenbuck reserve. Neidstein was the residence of the Brandt family since 1466. In 1979, the castle was inherited by the American

administrative law judge An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is a judge and trier of fact who both presides over trials and adjudicates claims or disputes involving administrative law. ALJs can administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evi ...

Theodor P. Von Brand from his uncle Dr. Philipp Theodor Freiherr von Brand. After his death in 2004, the von Brand heirs sold the castle in 2006 to the actor

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

. In 2009, Cage sold the castle to a lawyer in Amberg. The castle was carefully modernised and is now used as a venue for workshops and conferences e.g. by the

Fraunhofer Society The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...

Building

The ruins of the original Schloss Neidstein are located on top of the peak above the New Castle. The New Castle — an elongated tract with the east gate and a round tower in the west — was designed by Jobst Brand(t) and completed in 1513. Today's appearance, especially that of the gables, is due to a renovation between 1855 and 1860. Several wall reliefs that show themes from the Old Testament were carved by Georg Schweiger (17th century) from Amberg.

Library and archives

The castle's extensive archives date back to the 16th century, and have been available at the state archives in Amberg since 2006. A substantial part of the area housing the archives was supposedly used to accommodate horses of French troops passing through in 1796.Philipp Theodor Freiherr von Brand: "900 Jahre oberpfälzische Geschichte auf Burg und Schloß Neidstein", in: ''Oberpfälzer Heimat'' 9, s.l., 1964, p. 63 The whereabouts of the castle's library were unknown until an article in the ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'' (28 October 2006, p. 48) announced that a large amount of literature would be auctioned off in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

in November 2006.

Weblinks

official website of Schloss Neidstein (in German)

References

Castles in Bavaria Amberg-Sulzbach {{Bavaria-struct-stub