Gößweinstein Castle (german: Burg Gößweinstein), also called Schloss Gößweinstein, is a

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

hilltop castle A hilltop castle is a type of hill castle that was built on the summit of a hill or mountain. In the latter case it may be termed a mountaintop castle. The term is derived from the German, ''Gipfelburg'', which is one of a number of terms used ...

in Gößweinstein in the county of Forchheim in the German state of

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 ...

. It towers high above the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

and the River Wiesent and may have been the inspiration for

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's grail castle in his opera, '' Parsifal''. The castle is a Bavarian

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, no. D-4-74-129-10.

History

The castle was probably named after its founder, Count Gozwin. He was killed in 1065, after he had invaded the territory of the Bishop of Würzburg. The first record of ''Goswinesteyn'' castle is dated to 1076. At that time,

Emperor Henry IV Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son ...

had Bishop Burchard II of Halberstadt, who had become embroiled in the Saxon Rebellion, incarcerated there, a fact which suggests it was already a strong fortress. From the time of Bishop

Otto of Bamberg Otto of Bamberg (1060 or 1061 – 30 June 1139) was a German missionary and papal legate who converted much of medieval Pomerania to Christianity. He was the bishop of Bamberg from 1102 until his death. He was canonized in 1189. Early life Th ...

there is evidence that the castle became part of the Bamberg estate. From 1348 to 1780 it was the seat of a ''

vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

ei'' under the bishops of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

. In 1525, during the

Peasants' War This is a chronological list of conflicts in which peasants played a significant role. Background The history of peasant wars spans over two thousand years. A variety of factors fueled the emergence of the peasant revolt phenomenon, including: ...

it was destroyed and rebuilt. During the Second Margrave War in 1553 the castle was again destroyed and later rebuilt. The castle became a Bavarian possession as a result of secularisation of the Bishopric of Bamberg in 1803. The Bavarian state sold the castle in 1875 to Pauline Rabeneck, a landowning widow from the Manor (''Rittergut'') of Aspach near Uffenheim. In 1890 Baron Edgar of Sohlern purchased the castle and had it remodelled in the

Neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. The

castle chapel Castle chapels (german: Burgkapellen) in European architecture are chapels that were built within a castle. They fulfilled the religious requirements of the castle lord and his retinue, while also sometimes serving as a burial site. Because the ...

also has Late Gothic statues.

Today

The castle is still in the hands of the von Sohlen family. It houses a medieval museum which may be visited for a small entrance fee and there is a beer garden and terrace with good views over the Wiesent valley and village of Gößweinstein.''Über die Burg Gößweinstein''
at www.burg-goessweinstein.de, retrieved 17 Sep 2016.

References

Literature

* Ursula Pfistermeister: ''Wehrhaftes Franken - Band 3: Burgen, Kirchenburgen, Stadtmauern um Bamberg, Bayreuth und Coburg'', Fachverlag Hans Carl GmbH, Nuremberg, 2002, , pp. 56–58. * Günter Dippold: ''Zur Geschichte von Burg und Ort Gößweinstein''. In: Günter Dippold (Hrsg.): ''Gößweinstein. Sakrale Mitte der Fränkischen Schweiz''. Staffelstein, 1998, , pp. 12–28. * Gustav Voit, Brigitte Kaulich, Walter Rüfer: ''Vom Land im Gebirg zur Fränkischen Schweiz - Eine Landschaft wird entdeckt''. (Schriftenreihe des Fränkische-Schweiz-Vereins, Band 8) Verlag Palm und Enke, Erlangen, 1992, , pp. 103–108. * Björn-Uwe Abels, Joachim Zeune, et al.: ''Führer zu archäologischen Denkmälern in Deutschland, Band 20: Fränkische Schweiz''. Konrad Theiss Verlag GmbH und Co., Stuttgart, 1990, , pp. 162–164. * Hellmut Kunstmann: ''Die Burgen der östlichen Fränkischen Schweiz''. Kommissionsverlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Wurzburg, 1965, pp. 26–63.

External links

Home page of Gößweinstein Castle

Further information at Burgenstraße

Foracheim: Gößweinstein Castle

Artist's impression
by Wolfgang Braun {{Castles in the county of Forchheim Hill castles Registered historic buildings and monuments in Bavaria Forchheim (district) Gößweinstein