Schloss Bodenstein

Schloss Bodenstein stands on a plateau above the Regen valley in Bodenstein, a village east of Nittenau in the Upper Palatinate. The site is listed as an archaeological monument, with traces of a medieval castle beneath the present building. It also carries protected monument status for its later Renaissance and Baroque structures. The castle was built in the 14th century by the Michelsberg family, who gave it its name. A three-storey block surrounds a small inner courtyard reached through a simple chapel. Two oil paintings of the farmer-saints Isidore and Leonard survive from the original furnishings. A two-arched stone bridge once spanned the dry moat, linking the main house to the large farmyard beyond. After passing through several noble hands, the Walderdorff family sold the estate in 1930 to their steward. Visitors enter the castle courtyard and can walk to the chapel of St Martin, first recorded in 1525. A later chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary was added in the early 19th century by Freifrau von Berchtolsheim. The surrounding farm buildings and the plateau’s wide views over the Regen valley complete the visit.