Altenstein Castle (Lower Franconia)

Altenstein Castle (german: Burg Altenstein) is a ruined castle in Altenstein (Markt Maroldsweisach) in the district of Haßberge in Lower Franconia, Germany. The family seat of the lords of Stein zu Altenstein, which died out in the 19th century, is located 40 kilometres north of the city of Bamberg and, since the end of the 20th century, has been managed by the district of Haßberge. The castle was renovated around the turn of the millennium.

Location

The ruins of the hill castle lie commandingly over the village of the same name on a ridge (ca. 452 metres above sea level (NN)) in the Haßberge hills between Ebern and Maroldsweisach. The castle hill rises about 150 metres above the Weisach valley.

The elongated ridge on which Altenstein Castle stands is also the site of other fortifications.
The Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection has categorized it with the monument serial number D-6-5830-0006. a medieval motte south and below the castle on the ''Galgenberg'' ("Gallows Hill").

About two kilometres south of the ruins on the eastern slopes there are two other heritage sites hidden in the forest and both called ''Altburg'' ("Old Castle"). Another four kilometres south is the large double castle of Lichtenstein on the side of the valley. The site of the '' Teufelsstein'' rock castle below Lichtenstein Castle is the possible family seat of the two lines of the lords of Stein. Above the hamlet of Eyrichshof are the remains of Rotenhan Castle, one of the few rock castles in Germany.

History

left, A sculpted coat of arms (''Wappenstein''), probably 17th century, from the old parish church; now in the porch of the new church

The castle was the seat of the lords of ''Stein zu Altenstein''. The Steins split into two lines around 1200. The ''Stein von Lichtenstein'' ("Steins of Lichtenstein") had their seat at the castle of Lichtenstein. The origin of this family is thought to be the ''Teufelsstein'', a rock castle that used to stand on a site below Lichtenstein Castle.

The originally free knightly family soon had to become vassals of the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg. From the early 14th century the Altensteins only appear as vassals of Würzburg, occasionally of Bamberg, but also had fiefs of the abbeys of Banz and Langheim.

The castle appears to be first mentioned in the sources, indirectly, in 1225. In one document at that time a '' Marquard Magnus de antiquo lapide'' is mentioned (i.e. a "Marquard the Great of Altenstein"). In 1231, the castle is first directly referred to as a ''castrum'' with an ''ecclesia'' (castle with a church).

Over the succeeding centuries the place developed into a typical ''Ganerbenburg'', a castle occupied and run by several branches of the family in common. In 1296 eight families lived at the fortress above the Weisach valley. As one of the earliest records of a so-called ''Ganerbschaft'' ("joint inheritance") this fact is of particular interest for castle researchers. A '' Burgfrieden'' agreement in 1441 named ten brothers and cousins from five families, each of whom lived in their own cabinets (domestic quarters) in the castle.

The von Altenstein family was able to establish a small territory for itself around the castle during the 14th and 15th centuries. This enabled the scattered allodial lands of the family to be consolidated. The economic success of the castellans of the time can be seen from the impressive structures of the castle that have survived.

In 1525 Altenstein was damaged during the Peasants' War. In 1549 Emperor Charles V granted the high court jurisdiction to the Altensteins. The castellans were allowed, by virtue of the criminal law called the ''Malefizrecht'', to have stocks and a place of execution erected, and thus to sentence criminals to death under the Imperial Court Hanging Law (''Reichsgerichtshalsordnung'').

In 1567 William of Stein zu Altenstein opposed the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg during the Grumbach Feud and was therefore executed by sword on the market place at Gotha. The bishopric stripped the family of its fief. After the castle was sacked again during the Thirty Years' War the family fell increasingly on hard times. In 1634 Caspar von Stein was shot dead by marauding mercenaries.

In 1695, Emperor Leopold I elevated John Casimir of Stein zu Altenstein to the rank of imperial free baron (''Reichsfreiherrenstand''). This only delayed the decline of the family a little, however. At that time there were still three lines of the family: zu Altenstein, Marbach and Ditterswind.

The ''Steins of Altenstein'' lived at their family seat until 1703, but then moved down into the valley to their newly built ''schloss'' of Pfaffendorf. In 1670, the bishopric asked the castellans, in vain, to rebuild the castle. As a consequence, the castle fell into its present ruined state. In 1768 Christian Adam Louis von Stein sold the manor of Maroldsweisach to Joseph Anton, Baron Horneck of Weinheim. As one of the last estates, the manor in Pfaffendorf went to the barons of Grunelius around 1850.

In 1875, Karl vom Stein zum Altenstein died, the last twig of the German branch of the lords of Altenstein. Finally the castle went in 1895 to the lords of Rotenhan. In 1898 and 1949/50, minor maintenance work was carried out.

The castle ruins were donated to the district of Hassberge in 1972, which now owns and manages them. In 1999, the county began the renovation and development of the site, which was officially completed in 2003.

The most notable member of the von Altenstein family was Karl Sigmund Franz, Baron of Stein zum Altenstein (1770–1840), who is often confused with his namesake and predecessor in office, Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein, the well-known "Baron vom Stein". Thise Rhineland family has no genealogical connexion with the Franconian Steins of Altenstein.

Description

The site is one of the largest ruined castles in Franconia. In recent times it has been made safe and accessible by renovation.

The site is entered through the gatehouse (17th/18th century) of the outer ward (''Vorburg''), which is being used again as a residence. This outer bailey probably goes back to the 13th century and guarded the entrance to the Romanesque castle. The southeastern parts of the outer ward were supported by a high revetment (''Futtermauer'') with flying buttresses (''Flugbögen'').

An 18th-century stone bridge crosses the neck ditch