Kohlstein Castle (german: Burg Kohlstein) is situated on a rocky hillock in the village of Kohlstein northwest of

Tüchersfeld Tüchersfeld is a church village in the Püttlach valley in Franconian Switzerland and belongs to the town of Pottenstein. Geography Due to the prominent rocks (sponge reefs in cone karst shapes) of a meander cutoff hill, which emerged as th ...

and is the most recently built castle in

Franconian Switzerland Franconian Switzerland (german: Fränkische Schweiz) is an upland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main i ...

. It is also one of the smallest and most romantic castles. Today it is in private ownership and may not be visited.

History

The

hill castle A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles a ...

stands at a height of and may have been built around 1486 by Conz of Hirschaid. It was probably originally an

allodial estate In the law of the Middle Ages and early Modern Period and especially within the Holy Roman Empire, an allod ( Old Low Franconian ''allōd'' ‘fully owned estate’, from ''all'' ‘full, entire’ and ''ōd'' ‘estate’, Medieval Latin ''allo ...

of the Lords of Hirschaid. Later, feudal sovereignty passed to the

Bishopric of Bamberg The Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg (german: Hochstift Bamberg) was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire. It goes back to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bamberg established at the 1007 synod in Frankfurt, at the behest of King Henry II ...

. In 1525 was destroyed in 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 immediately rebuilt. In 1607/1608 the Hirschaid family had to sell their barony as they were short of money. On 23 May 1608 Wolf Philipp Groß von Trockau zu

was

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 ...

with the castle and lordship. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

the castle appears to have been destroyed because in 1636 a modest new structure was built. It was comprehensively renovated between 1707 and 1714. A garden house was probably built at this time, which was converted in 1743 into a castle and village chapel. The Groß von Trockau family, who called themselves from 1658 ''zu Kohlstein und Tüchersfeld'', had to sell the castle in 1713 to Otto Philipp von Gutenberg. After his death, his niece, Maria Anna Groß von Trockau, inherited the castle and estate. The current structure, a residential building with attached tower, dates mainly to the 18th century. The tower was renovated in 1890. In 1961 the Groß von Trockau family sold the castle, but not its associated chapel. The castle has had several owners since then. Today the castle is protected as listed building no. D-4-74-129-42 a ''"schloss, the core dating to 1486, rebuilt after destruction in the Peasants' War, three-storey main building, in 1636 with the core of the 15th/16th century, east side with irregular triangular end, covered, round

staircase tower A staircase tower or stair tower (german: Treppenturm, also ''Stiegenturm'' or ''Wendelstein'') is a tower-like wing of a building with a circular or polygonal plan that contains a stairwell, usually a helical staircase. History Only a few ex ...

, renovated in 1890; covered passageway to a two-storey outbuilding, 18th/19th century"'' and as area monument no. D-4-6234-0175 ''"Subterranean structures of the Late Mediaeval and Early Modern schloss of Kohlstein"'' by the Bavarian State Officer for Monument Protection. (PDF; 143 kB)

References

Literature

* Kai Kellermann: ''Herrschaftliche Gärten in der Fränkischen Schweiz - Eine Spurensuche''. Verlag Palm & Enke, Erlangen/ Jena, 2008, , pp. 114–117. * Gustav Voit, Walter Rüfer: ''Eine Burgenreise durch die Fränkische Schweiz.'' Verlag Palm und Enke, Erlangen, 1991, , pp. 101–103. * Toni Eckert, Susanne Fischer, Renate Freitag, Rainer Hofmann, Walter Tausendpfund: ''Die Burgen der Fränkischen Schweiz, Ein Kulturführer.'' Gürtler Druck, Forchheim, 1997, , pp. 82–85. * Hellmut Kunstmann: ''Die Burgen der östlichen Fränkischen Schweiz''. Kommissionsverlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Würzburg 1965, , pp. 294–303.

External links

Kohlstein Castle at Burgenwelt

History of the castle at Foracheim
{{Castles in the county of Forchheim Castles in Bavaria Registered historic buildings and monuments in Bavaria Forchheim (district) Franconian Switzerland Gößweinstein