Waischenfeld Castle () is a

ruin 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 ...

rock castle A rock castle () is a type of medieval castle that directly incorporates natural rock outcrops into its defences to such an extent that the rock formations define the structure of the castle. Topographically, rock castles are classified as hill ...

on a rocky plateau a few metres west of the town of

Waischenfeld Waischenfeld is a town in the district of Bayreuth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in Franconian Switzerland, 20 km southwest of Bayreuth. It consists of the following districts: Aalkorb, Breitenlesau, Doos, Eichenbirkig, Gösseldorf, ...

in the province of

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 ...

in the German state of

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 ...

History

The first clues to a castle in the village of Waischenfeld date to 1079, when ''Wirint von Waischenfeld'' was mentioned in the records as a member of an important noble family in the area of the middle Wiesent. The Waischenfelds were related to the dynastic family of the lords of

Aufseß Aufseß, also sometimes spelled Aufsess, is a municipality in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria, Germany. Located in Franconian Switzerland on the Castle Road and the Franconian ''Bierstraße'', or Beer Road, Aufseß is best known for its con ...

. 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 ...

was first recorded in 1122 as ''Urbs''. Following the death of Ulrich of Waischenfeld, the last in the Waischenfeld family line, in 1216 the castle and lordship of Waischenfeld went to Eberhard III of

Greifenstein Greifenstein is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Its administrative seat is Beilstein. Greifenstein covers 67.43 km2 on the eastern slope of the Westerwald range. It was named for the Greifenstein Castle (Hesse), ...

, who built a new fortress south of Waischenfeld,

Schlüsselberg Castle Schlüsselberg Castle () was a high medieval, aristocratic castle in the Franconian region of Germany. Its ruins lie on a hill above the ''Pulvermühle'', a southern town quarter of Waischenfeld in the Upper Franconian county of Landkreis Bayreuth ...

. After the death of

Conrad II of Schlüsselberg Conrad may refer to: People * Conrad (name) * Saint Conrad (disambiguation) Places United States * Conrad, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Iowa, a city * Conrad, Montana, a city * Conrad Glacier, Washington Elsewher ...

, the castle and town of Waischenfeld went in 1348 into the hands of the

Bishopric of Bamberg The Prince-Bishopric of 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 to further expand the spr ...

. In 1430 the castle was badly damaged during 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 ...

; it was then re-enfeoffed by the bishopric to the nobility between 1438 and 1562. It was destroyed again between 1552 and 1553 during the

Second Margrave War The Second Margrave War () was a conflict in the Holy Roman Empire between 1552 and 1555. Instigated by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, who was attempting to form a Duchy of Franconia under his ru ...

, in which Margrave

Albert Alcibiades Albert II (; 28 March 15228 January 1557) was the margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (Brandenburg-Bayreuth) from 1527 to 1553. He was a member of the Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern. Because of his bellicose nature, Albert was gi ...

Brandenburg-Kulmbach The Principality of Bayreuth () or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (''Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth'') was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Since Burgrave Frederic ...

fought mainly against the (Catholic)

bishoprics In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

in order to try to gain a supremacy in

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

. During the conflict the castle was captured three times by the margrave's troops; after being plundered it was razed on 7 June 1553. From about 1600, the old castle was used as a grain store and slowly fell into disrepair. The ruins were finally demolished in 1876/77 and 1889.

Description

The tower known as the ''Steinerner Beutel'' ("Stone Bag") is the symbol of the town of Waischenfeld. The Romanesque

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls. Castle ...

is roughly 13 metres high and stands on a limestone crag. It belongs to the northernmost part of the castle, the Rüssenbach castle estate. The tower was originally a ''

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries an ...

'' or ''bergfried''-like

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

with an

elevated entrance An elevated entrance is a type of entrance, common in the design of medieval castles, that is not accessible from ground level, but lies at the level of an upper storey. The elevated entrance is the lowest and frequently the only way of ente ...

.Rainer Hofmann, Björn-Uwe Abels: ''Fränkische Schweiz.'' p. 229

References

Literature

* Rüdiger Bauriedel, Ruprecht Konrad-Röder: ''Mittelalterliche Befestigungen und niederadelige Ansitze im Landkreis Bayreuth''. Ellwanger Druck und Verlag, Bayreuth, 2007, , p. 151. * Hans-Michael Körner, Alois Schmid (eds.), Martin Ott: ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten. Bayern II Franken''. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, 2006, , pp. 564–565. * Ursula Pfistermeister: ''Wehrhaftes Franken - Band 3: Burgen, Kirchenburgen, Stadtmauern um Bamberg, Bayreuth und Coburg''. Fachverlag Hans Carl GmbH, Nuremberg,2002, , p. 126. * Ruth Bach-Damaskinos, Peter Borowitz: ''Schlösser und Burgen in Oberfranken – Eine vollständige Darstellung aller Schlösser, Herrensitze, Burgen und Ruinen in den oberfränkischen kreisfreien Städten und Landkreisen''. Verlag A. Hofmann, Nuremberg, 1996, , pp. 50–51. * 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. 162–167. * Gustav Voit, Walter Rüfer: ''Eine Burgenreise durch die Fränkische Schweiz''. Verlag Palm & Enke, Erlangen, 1991, , pp. 210–214. * 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. 227–229. * Hellmut Kunstmann: ''Die Burgen der östlichen Fränkischen Schweiz''. Kommissionsverlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Würzburg, 1965, pp. 90–131. * Toni Eckert, Susanne Fischer, Renate Freitag, Rainer Hofmann, Walter Tausendpfund: ''Die Burgen der Fränkischen Schweiz: Ein Kulturführer''. Gebietsausschuss Fränkische Schweiz o.J., ,pp. 179–184.

External links

{{commons category, Burg Waischenfeld, Waischenfeld Castle
Home page of Waischenfeld Castle

Artist's impression
by Wolfgang Braun Rock castles Hill castles Castles in Bavaria Franconian Switzerland Bayreuth (district)