Lower Tüchersfeld Castle () was one of the two

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

s in the church village 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 ...

in the region of

Franconian Switzerland Franconian Switzerland (, ) 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 in the north, its relief ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

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 north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

of this

spur castle A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur (mountain), spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where t ...

are situated on a

rock pinnacle A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower (, ''Felsturm'' or ''Felszinne'') in geology is an individual column of rock, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire. is a natural geomorphological ...

in the centre of the village of Dorfes Tüchersfeld in the municipality of Pottenstein in the

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

n county of

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

. On the rock tower behind it are the remains of

Upper Tüchersfeld Castle The ruins of Upper Tüchersfeld Castle () are all that remains of a high medieval castle that once rose high above the valley of the Püttlach (river), Püttlach in the church village of Tüchersfeld in Germany's Franconian Switzerland. It was bu ...

. The castle was first built in the 13th century and mentioned in 1269. On 27 May 1262 the

Bishop of Bamberg This is a list of bishops and archbishops of the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg and the modern Archdiocese of Bamberg in Germany. __TOC__ Bishops, 1007–1245 * Eberhard I 1007-1040 * Pope Clement II, Suidger von Morsleben 1040-1046 (Later Pope Clemen ...

Berthold of Leiningen Berthold may refer to: * Berthold (name), a Germanic given name and surname * Berthold Type Foundry, former German type foundry * Berthold, North Dakota, a place in the United States See also * Berthod, a surname * Berchtold Berchtold (also Ber ...

, bought the castle. In addenda to episcopal

Urbarium An urbarium (, English: ''urbarium'', also ''rental'' or ''rent-roll'', , , , ), is a register of fief ownership and includes the rights and benefits that the fief holder has over his serfs and peasants. It is an important economic and legal sourc ...

B of 1348, the two castles at Tüchersfeld were first distinguished by name; the upper castle was the seat of a district or '' Amt'' established before 1323–27, the lower castle was 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 ...

, owned by Groß of Trockau. In 1430, the castle was destroyed in the

Hussite wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, a ...

and rebuilt by the fief holder, Groß. In 1525, the castle was razed during the

Peasants' War This is a chronological list of revolts organized by peasants. Background The history of peasant wars spans over two thousand years. A variety of factors fueled the emergence of the peasant revolt phenomenon, including: * Tax resistance * So ...

, and, in 1636, it was finally destroyed in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. In 1691 it was designated in the official description as "totally desolate". Around 1700 a Jewish settlement was established in the remaining ruins and, in 1755, 44 Jews lived there. The Jewish settlement in the Lower Castle was destroyed by fire in 1758. the remains of the old buildings were included in the newly constructed buildings of 1758–1762, In 1959, the remaining parts of the site, now called the "Jew's Court" or ''Judenhof'', were sold to private individuals. After the site was completely renovated in 1981 to 1983, the Franconian Switzerland Museum opened in 1985.Burgruine Niederntüchersfeld bei burgenwelt.org
retrieved 10 December 2015. Of the old castle only a few wall remains and a rock tower have survived.

Literature

* Toni Eckert, Susanne Fischer, Renate Freitag, Rainer Hofmann, Walter Tausendpfund: ''Die Burgen der Fränkischen Schweiz – Ein Kulturführer''. Gürtler Druck, Forchheim o.J., {{ISBN, 3-9803276-5-5, pp. 160–164.

References

Castles in Bavaria Rock castles Hill castles Bayreuth (district)