Schloss Greifenstein

Schloss Greifenstein stands in the Hammelburg training area above the abandoned village of Bonnland in Lower Franconia. The castle was built around 1558 by Philipp III of Thüngen, with a keystone dated 1565 confirming the period. No traces of an earlier building were found during 1970s renovations. The structure was sold in 1657 to Generalmajor Hans-Georg von Rußwurm and remodelled in 1726 to its present form. The castle passed in 1732 to the Gleichen family under Reichsfreiherren von Gleichen-Russwurm. Wilhelm Friedrich Freiherr von Gleichen, an officer and naturalist, lived there from 1756 with his family. Friedrich Schiller visited in 1793 on his journey from Weimar to Stuttgart. Schiller’s youngest daughter Emilie married Heinrich Adalbert von Gleichen-Russwurm in 1828 and remained at Greifenstein until her death in 1872. Their son Heinrich Ludwig, an Impressionist painter and professor in Weimar, worked in Bonnland. Visitors find a protected 19th-century castle set in the military training area. The interior reflects its 18th-century rebuilding, with rooms arranged around a central courtyard. Outside, the surrounding woodland and former estate farm at Bonnland form part of the restricted landscape. The castle itself is off-limits to troops, preserving its historic fabric for occasional public viewings.