Burg Freienstein

Burg Freienstein stands on a spur above Gammelsbach, a district of Oberzent in the Odenwaldkreis of Hesse. It overlooks the narrow Gammelsbach valley where the B45 still runs, once a key route between the Neckar and Main regions. The ruins cling to the eastern slope of the Weckberg ridge, marking the southern edge of the Erbach counts’ lands. The castle first appears in records in 1297, built as the Erbachs’ southern stronghold and administrative centre. Its early core included a massive donjon and three residential towers for the Burgmannen families. The surviving 24-metre-high remnants of the shield wall show how the fortress once barred the valley. After the Erbach line died out in 1503 the site served mainly for hunting and occasional residence until the Thirty Years War left it to decay. Visitors today find the compact core of the castle still enclosed by sections of curtain wall and the great shield wall. Remains of the Palas, chapel and former great hall stand among grass and bracken on the spur. The deep neck ditch and ruined Zwinger on the western side are still visible, while the collapsed gatehouse lies where it fell in 1887. The whole spur, including the ruins and surrounding plots, forms a protected monument known as Schlossberg.