The Epprechtstein is a mountain in the northern

Fichtel Mountains The Fichtel Mountains (, ; ) is a mountain range in Germany and the Czech Republic. They extend from the valley of the Red Main River in northeastern Bavaria to the Karlovy Vary Region in western Czech Republic. The Fichtel Mountains contain an ...

in northeast Bavaria, Germany, . It is mineralogically the most interesting mountain in the entire Fichtel range. Around the summit there are about 20

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

, in three of which Epprechtstein granite is quarried. The others are closed and partially overgrown.

Climb

The mountain may be climbed from Buchhaus to the north on one of the

Fichtelgebirge Club The Fichtelgebirge Club ( or ''FGV'') is a large walking club and local heritage society in Bavaria and recognised Conservation movement, conservation group with 20,000 members in 55 local groups. As the name says, its main sphere of activity is i ...

's main hiking trails.

Ruins of Epprechtstein Castle

On the treeless summit on a long, steep-sided,

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

slab stands the ruined castle of Epprechtstein. This is the old tower-like main residence on which a staircase has been built leading to an observation platform. From here there is a panoramic view of the Waldstein ridge, the Großer Kornberg, to

Schwarzenbach an der Saale Schwarzenbach an der Saale is a town in the district of Hof, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, 11 km south of Hof. Within the town is the Gedenkstätte Langer Gang, a memorial to the Nazi victims of the Helmbrechts ...

and

Oberkotzau Oberkotzau is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the nor ...

as far as Hof, and south to the inner Fichtel Mountains and

Kösseine The Kösseine is a massif in the High Fichtel mountains in Germany, lying in northeast Bavaria south of Wunsiedel. The highest elevation of this granite massif is the summit of the Große Kösseine, . The border between the Bavarian provinces of Up ...

. Two hundred and fifty metres southeast is a service hut belonging to the Kirchenlamitz Mountain Rescue service.

History of the castle

In a deed of gift by Duke

Otto II of Merania Otto III ( – 19 June 1248), a member of the House of Andechs, was Count of Burgundy from 1231 and the last duke of Merania (numbered Otto II) from 1234 until his death. Family Otto was the only son of Duke Otto I of Merania and Countess Bea ...

a certain ''Eberhardus de Eckebretsteine'' was mentioned for the first time in 1248. In 1308

King Henry VII Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509), also known as Henry Tudor, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry ...

enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of t ...

the brothers Ulrich, Henry and Nickel, known as the Sacks, with Epprechtstein

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

; the Wilds being co-owners. In 1337 Emperor

Louis of Bavaria Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

enfeoffed the bailiff (''

Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

'') Henry of Plauen with a small part of the fortress. In 1352 the

burgraves of Nuremberg The Burgraviate of Nuremberg () was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from the early 12th to the late 15th centuries. As a burgraviate, it was a county seated in the town of Nuremberg; almost two centuries passed before the burgraviate lost p ...

stormed the 'robber castle', and were then granted it as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

. In 1355/1356, they bought the castle and took full possession of both the fortress and the Office (''

Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

'') of Kirchenlamitz. Two hundred years later the castle was destroyed by troops of ''Vogt'' Henry of Plauen and fell into ruin.

Royal visit of 1805

After

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

had acquired the Margraviate of Bayreuth, its new rulers, King

Frederick William III Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved. ...

and Queen Louise visited Epprechtstein on 21 June 1805 with a large entourage. The stone table and stone benches, poetically called the Devil's Table (''Teufelstisch''), were specially built for the royal party to take luncheon. William III is said to have received the message that

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and his troops had crossed the Rhine whilst on the Epprechtstein.

Epprechtstein granite labyrinth

In 2009 the town of Kirchenlamitz built a labyrinth of huge granite blocks at the foot of the mountain, near the village of Buchhaus.

References

Sources

* Dietmar Herrmann: ''Lexikon Fichtelgebirge''. Ackermann Verlag Hof/Saale. * Werner Bergmann: ''750 Jahre Burg Epprechtstein''. Verlag der Stadt Kirchenlamitz/Ofr. * Dr. Hans Vollet und Kathrin Heckel: ''Die Ruinenzeichnungen des Plassenburgkartographen Johann Christoph Stierlein''. 1987. * Dietmar Herrmann: ''Granitlabyrinth Epprechtstein'', in: Der Siebenstern 2009, p. 344

External links

Epprechtstein

Ruins of Epprechtstein Castle
at the home page of the House of Bavarian History (plans, history, architecture, condition)

{{Authority control Mountains of the Fichtel Mountains Mountains of Bavaria Mountains under 1000 metres Castles in Bavaria Kirchenlamitz History of mining in Germany