Top 20 Castles around Alfeld

Poppberg Castle Ruins It is difficult to determine from the sources when the castle was built. It is particularly unclear whether the mentioned castles and lords of the "Puchberg," "Puckberg," or "Pocksberg" are identical with the Poppbergs. A coat of arms of the "Pocksberg" appears in the Kastl monastery church in the row of founders' coats of arms on the south side of the nave. It can be assumed that the castle was founded to control the "high road" from Prague to Nuremberg, perhaps even under the Counts of Sulzbach, who ruled until 1188. In any case, the village of Poppberg is mentioned as belonging to the Fürnried parish as early as 1139. However, the castle's existing buildings show no signs of such an early foundation; they are more consistent with the period after 1300, when tower-like residential buildings became fashionable. The first truly confirmed reference to the castle appears in 1373, when the so-called New Bohemian Lands of Emperor Charles IV passed into the hands of the Bavarian duke. Poppberg was part of this Bohemian territory on Upper Palatinate soil, founded by Charles in 1353, but dissolved after his death. The Bavarian dukes pawned the castle to their Palatinate relatives in 1395, but redeemed the pledge in 1451. What seems odd is that two years later the castle is described as "deserted and desolate," meaning it was already abandoned. In 1505, after the Landshut War of Succession, Poppberg passed to the Duchy of Palatinate-Sulzbach, and in 1791 to Bavaria, but remained abandoned and fell into disrepair until the present day. The entrance to the castle is protected by a narrow tower on a pointed rock formation that forms the highest point of the castle. The upper part of the tower is occupied by a recently built, concreted shelter, which served as an air observation post during World War II. A circular wall adjoins the rock formation, forming a clearly visible edge of the terrain and extending extensively around the entire area. Traces of soil near the entrance suggest several utility buildings. The most impressive part of Poppberg is the residential building, a typical late medieval mixture of residential tower and palace dating from after 1300. The lower floor of the building probably served as a pantry and kitchen. The second floor is much more residential, with larger windows and two large entrances leading to the former battlements on either side. A third floor is suspected. Source: www.burgenseite.de

Small, privately owned castle located on the Neidstein. Was briefly owned by Nicolas Cage, the Hollywood actor. Unfortunately, it cannot be easily visited.

Burgstall Hartenfels The site of the abandoned spur castle is located in the Middle Franconian Jura, on a southwest-facing rocky spur of the Great Hartenfels at 530.6 m above sea level. The castle was probably built during the 13th century by the Lords of Neidstein, but there is no mention of the castle itself. It is only mentioned indirectly in a document dated February 21, 1268, in the name of Heinrich von Hertenvels. In addition to the high medieval fortification on the Hartenfels, there are also the remains of a prehistoric structure at the same location. A long section of the rampart, about half a meter high, has been preserved, which arches around the mountain spur outside the moat of the medieval castle and thus sealed it off. Today, the site of the former castle is completely overgrown with forest, and only two ditches and the remains of the foundation walls of the former ring wall have survived. The former hilltop castle was once divided into two areas, an outer bailey at the transition from the spur to the flat summit area or plateau of the Hartenfels, and a main castle at the rocky tip of the mountain spur, in the best protected place by nature. The outer bailey was protected by a two-meter-deep and about ten-meter-wide moat. The area of the outer bailey is irregularly shaped, as it was adapted to the rocky terrain between the plateau and the rocky spur. As it was easily attacked from the plateau, it had to be protected on its north-east side by a strong wall, of which a 4.50-meter-wide and one-meter-high rampart still remains. Approximately in the middle of this rampart, a 3.80-meter-wide break gives an idea of the former entrance to the castle, and even today you enter the castle grounds at this point. The main castle has a trapezoidal area about 50 meters long and 25 meters wide. On its west and south sides it is well protected by the vertical drop of the rocks by several meters and the steep eastern slope also offered sufficient protection. Only at the northwest corner is a small remnant of a wall still visible above ground. There are no further traces of construction on the flat surface of the main castle, apart from an almost square pit in the middle of the area. This pit measures 4 by 3.50 meters and could be the remains of a cistern or a cellar room. Source: Excerpts from www.wikipedia.de

Nice little castle ruins and easy to get to;

In 1391 the castle was pledged to Linhard von Henfenfeld by the Wittelsbach dukes, after which other pledge holders and caretakers appeared. In 1419 it was ceded to the brothers Hans, Eberhart and Wilhelm von Mistelbeck, who had claims against Duke Ludwig of Bavaria-Ingolstadt. The handover did not take place because of the Bavarian War. In the Bavarian War between Duke Ludwig of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and his cousins, the Bavarian Dukes of Landshut and Munich, Lichtenstein Castle was conquered and destroyed in June 1421 by Count Palatine Johann von Neumarkt-Neunburg, who was allied with Ludwig's opponents. In the terrain exploration of the imperial city of Nuremberg from 1503 to 1504, in which all castles and fortifications are listed in relation to the Landshut War of Succession that soon followed, Lichtenstein is described as “an old, traditional castle”. An entry in the Salbuch from 1516 also states that Lichtenstein was only a castle stable. The Sulzbach regional court granted the Mistelbeck brothers their right to compensation in 1421 and again in 1422. The castle ruins fell into disrepair; In 1851 the Bavarian state sold it to Paul Willhelm Freiherr Ebner von Eschenbach. Around 1855, in the spirit of the awakening romanticism of castles, he had the pseudo-ruins built on the upper castle using rising masonry and an English landscape garden set up in the area of the lower castle, which, however, also fell into disrepair.[5] Today there is forest around the castle ruins and it is partly overgrown with bushes. Several hiking trails from Pommelsbrunn and the surrounding area lead to the ruins. The medieval remains of Lichtenstein Castle, especially those of the lower castle, are at great risk of decay. Source: Wikipedia

Today there is forest around the castle ruins and it is partly overgrown with bushes. Several hiking trails from Pommelsbrunn and the surrounding area lead to the ruins. In any case, the view is beyond any doubt :)

The Poppberg castle ruins are privately owned. Entry is prohibited.

From the Hartenfels with its summit cross that can be seen from afar, you have a beautiful view of Neukirchen and the surrounding area. To get to the vantage point, you either leave your bike where it is or push it up the stairs, but the view makes up for the effort. Don't forget to enter the summit book 😉.