Schloss Falbenthal

Schloss Falbenthal stands in Falbenthal, a village that belongs to the town of Treuchtlingen in Mittelfranken. The building is a former manor house set in the quiet countryside of the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district. It is listed in the Bavarian monument register under its own number. The present structure was rebuilt in 1681 by Wolf Philipp von Leubelfing, whose name appears above the entrance. In the 19th century the two western corner towers and the upper parts of the eastern towers were removed, leaving a lower silhouette. The house began as a three-storey building with four towers on the front. In 1708 Christoph Philipp Ludwig von Leubelfing gained permission to add houses and settle farmers. By 1732 the estate included a tile kiln and eleven small cottages attached to the parish of Wettelsheim. When the Leubelfing line died out in 1787, the fief reverted to the Brandenburg margrave and was granted to Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Freiherr Eichler von Auritz. Today the building serves only as a private residence. Visitors see a plain two-storey manor with plain white walls and a red-tiled roof. The remaining corner towers are square and low, their upper floors gone. The entrance still carries the date 1681 carved in stone. The surrounding farmland and distant woods give the place a peaceful air. Falbenthal itself is a small rural settlement, so the house stands apart from modern development.