Rupprechtstein

Rupprechtstein is a small Bavarian hamlet in the eastern part of the Hersbrucker Alb. It lies about two kilometres north-north-east of Etzelwang village centre on a plateau 529 metres above sea level. The hamlet belongs to the municipality of Etzelwang in the Upper Palatinate region. Only ten people lived there in 2017, making it one of the smallest settlements in the area. The hamlet’s history begins in the early 19th century when Rupprechtstein was recorded as a single farmstead. In 1818 it became part of the newly formed rural district of Etzelwang. Changes in local government moved the settlement between Etzelwang, Schmidtstadt and Kirchenreinbach before it was finally returned to Etzelwang in 1978. A former estate building, once the economic centre of the nearby castle, later served for decades as a guest house. Visitors find two protected monuments in Rupprechtstein. The ruins of Rupprechtstein castle stand on a rocky outcrop above the hamlet. Nearby is the old estate building, the former seat of a patrimonial court. A narrow side road leads from the main lane to the hamlet, ending after about 200 metres at the scattered houses and ruins. The quiet lanes and open meadows around the settlement offer long views over the surrounding Franconian landscape.