Mildenburg

The Mildenburg stands above Miltenberg in Lower Franconia. Built in the mid-12th century, it began as a Staufer stronghold before passing to Mainz. The name reflects its founders’ hope that the castle would show ‘mild’ or generous rule. A 27-metre bergfried of bossed ashlar is the oldest part, set on the most exposed slope. The main living block with its steep gables was added between 1390 and 1396 under Archbishop Konrad von Weinsberg. After damage in the Peasants’ War and the Second Margrave War, it was rebuilt by Daniel Brendel von Homburg in the 16th century. The castle’s history is tied to the Staufer king Konrad III, who rewarded his captain Burkard for loyal service. Burkard and his brother Rupert built Mildenburg and Frohburg to secure the Amorbach abbey’s lands. By 1226 the fortress had become a Mainz outpost guarding the Lower Main toll station. For centuries it housed the archbishop’s burggraves until secularisation in 1803. Later owners turned it into a romantic castle before the city of Miltenberg bought it in 1979. Today the Mildenburg shelters the Museum Burg Miltenberg. The displays include about 170 modern works from the Lenssen collection, Russian and Greek icons from the 16th to 19th centuries, and more than 180 Romanian reverse-glass icons. Visitors walk through the medieval bergfried, the 14th-century hall, and later residential rooms. From the battlements there are long views over Miltenberg and the winding Main below. The courtyard still shows traces of 19th-century romantic landscaping.