Turmhügel Wöhr

The Turmhügel Wöhr stands in the Wiesent valley near Streitberg in Upper Franconia. It is the remains of a late medieval motte castle, a small earthwork fortification built on an artificial mound. The site once belonged to a lower noble family and was destroyed and rebuilt several times. Today only faint traces remain, and it is protected as an archaeological monument. The castle’s history is tied to powerful local families. In 1399 Heinrich Stübig received the ‘Behausung zum Werde’ from Bamberg diocese, including land and a mill. Earlier, the Schlüsselbergs, a major Franconian noble house, had held the site near their main castle of Neideck. The motte was mentioned in 1360 as ‘walle czun Werde’, already in ruins after conflicts in 1347. Visitors see a low, rectangular mound about nine by twelve metres across. The remains rise barely a metre above the ground, with no visible wall or ditch. The site lies on a former island in the Wiesent, and old river channels can still be traced nearby. The surrounding farmland is open and accessible, offering a quiet place to imagine the vanished fortress.