Altenstein Castle

Burg Altenstein stands on a ridge in the Haßberge hills, about 452 metres above sea level. The ruined hill castle overlooks the village of Altenstein and rises roughly 150 metres above the Weisach valley. It once belonged to the lords of Stein zu Altenstein, a knightly family that split into branches in the 13th century. The Steins held the castle as vassals of the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg and Bamberg for centuries. Their small territory around the fortress was consolidated in the 14th and 15th centuries. The castle is mentioned indirectly in 1225 and directly as a castrum with a church in 1231. By 1296 eight families lived at the fortress, making it one of the earliest examples of a Ganerbenburg. A Burgfrieden agreement in 1441 named ten relatives from five families, each occupying separate quarters. The family’s fortunes declined after damage in the Peasants’ War and the Thirty Years’ War. In 1549 Emperor Charles V granted the Altensteins high court jurisdiction, allowing them to execute criminals. Visitors enter through a 17th- or 18th-century gatehouse in the outer ward. A stone bridge crosses a 15-metre neck ditch to the main gate, flanked by two round towers from the Hussite Zwinger built around 1430. The late Romanesque keep still stands with a north wall about ten metres high. Remains of the original neck ditch lie at the foot of the tower. The site is one of the largest ruined castles in Franconia and has been made safe and accessible after renovation.