Burggrafenburg

The Burggrafenburg stands in the eastern part of the Nuremberg Castle complex in Mittelfranken. Originally a separate fortress, it formed the oldest section of the salian castle. From the 11th century it served as the seat of the Burgraves of Nuremberg until their move to Cadolzburg in the mid-13th century. The site witnessed key moments in imperial history. After the Raabs line died out in 1191, the Zollern family took control and held the post of burgrave. In 1420 Christoph Leininger captured the castle during the Bavarian War and burned it. Three years later the Hohenzollerns sold the entire Nuremberg fortress to the free imperial city, ending the legal existence of the burgraviate. Today the remains include the Fünfeckturm, the medieval Burgamtmannshaus and fragments of the old Vestnertor. A high curtain wall called the heimlicher Wächtergang once separated the Burggrafenburg from the Kaiserburg. South-east of the tower stands the Walburgiskapelle, and between chapel and tower a hollow way is lined with rubble from the 1420 destruction.