The ruins of Thüngfelderstein Castle (german: Burgstall Thüngfelderstein), also called Eberhardstein Castle (''Burg Eberhardstein''), are the ''
burgstall
A ''burgstall'' is a German term referring to a castle of which so little is left that its appearance cannot effectively be reconstructed. '' of a demolished
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 ...
on a block of rock near
Morschreuth in the south 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 ...
. The site lies within the market municipality of
Gößweinstein
Gößweinstein is a municipality in the district of Forchheim in Bavaria in Germany. It lies within the region known as Franconian Switzerland.
Districts
History
The first record of ''Goswinesteyn'' Castle is from 1076. Prior to 1102 the Hochs ...
in the county of
Forchheim
Forchheim () is a town in Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) in northern Bavaria, and also the seat of the administrative district of Forchheim. Forchheim is a former royal city, and is sometimes called the Gateway to the Franconian Switzer ...
.
The castle was built in the 12th century by the lords of
Thüngfeld; in 1154, for example, an ''Eberjard von Thüngfeld'' is mentioned.
Of the former
tower castle
A tower castle is a small castle that mainly consists of a fortified tower or a tower-like structure that is built on natural ground. It is thus different from the motte-and-bailey castle, which it may resemble, but whose main defensive structure ...
only a
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
has survived.
Literature
* Walter Heinz: ''Ehemalige Adelssitze im Trubachtal - Ein Wegweiser für Heimatfreunde und Wanderer''. Verlag Palm und Enke, Erlangen and Jena, 1996, , pp. 226–231.
* Hellmut Kunstmann: ''Die Burgen der südwestlichen Fränkischen Schweiz''. From the series: Veröffentlichungen der Gesellschaft für Fränkische Geschichte Reihe IX: Darstellungen aus der Fränkischen Geschichte, Vol. 28. Kommissionsverlag Degener und Co., Neustadt/Aisch 1990, pp. 261–262.
External links
*
{{Castles in the county of Forchheim
Castles in Bavaria
Hill castles
Forchheim (district)
Gößweinstein