Schloss Kunreuth is situated on the northwestern edge of the eponymous village of

Kunreuth Kunreuth is a municipality in the district of Forchheim in Bavaria in Germany. The town is the location of Schloss Kunreuth. Since the 14th century the castle has belonged to the family of the Counts and Barons von Egloffstein Egloffstein is a ...

which is part of the collective municipality of Gosberg 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 ...

, in the province of

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (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 F ...

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 ...

History

The village of Kunreuth had probably been mentioned in the founding document (''Gründungsbuch'') of the church of St. James at

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

which dates to 1109. Lords of Kunreuth are first recorded in 1308. What is unclear is whether there was already a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in existence at that time. The first record of a castle dates to 1409. At that time, the castle was a fief of 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 ...

, owned by the

lords of Egloffstein The House of Egloffstein is an ancient Franconian aristocratic family (''Uradel'') with an eponymous family home in the hill region of Franconian Switzerland in the Bavarian province of Upper Franconia. The family first appears in the records in 1 ...

. In 1420 the castle was conquered and plundered during a

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

between Margrave

Frederick I of Brandenburg Frederick (Middle High German: ''Friderich','' Standard German: ''Friedrich''; 21 September 1371 – 20 September 1440) was the last Burgrave of Nuremberg from 1397 to 1427 (as Frederick VI), Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from 1398, Margr ...

and Duke Louis VII of Bavaria-Ingolstadt. In 1525, during 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: ...

the castle was destroyed. It was immediately rebuilt by the lords of Egloffstein. In 1553 the castle was wrecked again: 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, it involved numerous raids, plunderings, and the destruction of ...

by Margrave

Albert Alcibiades Albert II (german: Albrecht; 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 ...

. Despite the promise of free passage, the troops of the garrison were hanged on the trees around the castle. From 1558 the castle, now a ''

Ganerbenburg A ''Ganerbenburg'' (plural: ''Ganerbenburgen'') is a castle occupied and managed by several families or family lines at the same time. These families shared common areas of the castle including the courtyard, well, and chapel, whilst maintaining th ...

'' of the House of Egloffstein, was rebuilt as a ''

schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cognate ...

'', whilst largely retaining its military character. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

the ''schloss'' suffered severe damage during its frequent use for billeting soldiers. This damage was repaired over time. The ''schloss'' is still owned by the counts and ''freiherren'' "von und zu Egloffstein", who have used it to house their family archives.

Description

The former

water castle A water castle is a castle whose site is largely defended by water. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. The term comes from European castle st ...

– some of the moats were laid dry in 1827 – has a rectangular plan. It consists primarily of a west and a south wing. The south wing probably houses the oldest parts of the castle, which go back to the 14th century. The west wing was given its present appearance mainly in the period from 1611 to 1613. The gateway on the east side of the ''

'' was built in 1624. In 1746 the

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

was replaced by a stone bridge. On the north side is a wall with buttresses. Until its destruction in the

the so-called rear

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

(''Kemenate'') was located here. In the forecourt of the ''schloss'' is a monument to the first Count of Egloffstein, Count Albert Dietrich Godfrey of Egloffstein.

Gallery

Kunreuth 01.jpg, East side (1998) Schloss Kunreuth 01.jpg, Forecourt and south wing (2020) Kunreuth 03.jpg, Round tower at the southwest corner (1998)

Literature

* Kai Kellermann: ''Herrschaftliche Gärten in der Fränkischen Schweiz - Eine Spurensuche''. Verlag Palm & Enke, Erlangen/ Jena, 2008, , pp. 130–137. * Joachim Zeune: ''Kunreuth, Lkr. Forchheim: Schloss''. In: Rainer Hofmann (Bearb.): ''Führer zu archäologischen Denkmälern in Deutschland.'' Vol. 20: ''Fränkische Schweiz''. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart, 1990, , pp. 195–196. * Hellmut Kunstmann: ''Die Burgen der südwestlichen Fränkischen Schweiz''. 2. Auflage. Kommissionsverlag Degener & Co, Neustadt an der Aisch, 1990, pp. 177–189. * Toni Eckert, Susanne Fischer, Renate Freitag, Rainer Hofmann, Walter Tausendpfund: ''Die Burgen der Fränkischen Schweiz – Ein Kulturführer''. Gürtler Druck, Forchheim, 1997, , pp. 88–92. * Ursula Pfistermeister: ''Wehrhaftes Franken.'' Vol. 3: ''Burgen, Kirchenburgen, Stadtmauern um Bamberg, Bayreuth und Coburg''. Verlag Hans Carl, Nuremberg, 2002, , pp. 80–81. * Hans-Michael Körner, Alois Schmid: ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten Deutschlands.'' Vol. 7/2: ''Bayern 2 (Franken)''. 4th edn. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, 2006, , pp. 291–292. * Albrecht von und zu Egloffstein: ''Burgen und Schlösser in Oberfranken: Ein Handbuch von Albrecht Graf von und zu Egloffstein''. 1st edn. Verlag Weidlich, Frankfurt am Main, 1972, , pp. 213–225.

External links

Burgschloss Kunreuth
auf der Homepage des Hauses der Bayerischen Geschichte (Pläne, Geschichte, Baugeschichte, Baubestand) {{Castles in the county of Forchheim

Forchheim (district)