Burg Dölau

Burg Dölau stands on a rock above the Weiße Elster river south of Greiz in Thuringia. The ruined buildings occupy the site of a former cliff-top fortress. The Elster once flowed at the foot of the rock but moved after river works. The B92 trunk road passes nearby. The castle was probably built in the 12th century by the Lobdeburg family. A knight called von Dölau is first recorded in 1288 serving the Vögte of Weida. By then the Reußen of Plauen held the fortress. Its surviving kemenate-style hall shows advanced medieval design. Water ditches that once surrounded the site have been filled in. In the 16th and 17th centuries the building served as a granary. Between 1694 and 1743 Heinrich XVI of Greiz and his sons used it as their small court for the Reuß-Greiz-Dölau line. After 1743 the castle was abandoned when Dölau was merged with Obergreiz. Visitors today see the remains of the old keep and hall on the rock. A deep ditch-and-bank fortification has been partly rebuilt. The site is cared for under heritage rules. The restored defences give a sense of how the fortress once looked. The view across the valley shows why the rock was chosen for defence. The ruined walls stand against the sky above the riverbed.