Top 4 Castles around Lauscha

Unfortunately, the beer garden was closed on Thursdays in May. A lovely little spot with a view of the Thuringian Forest. Not so suitable when the ground is wet.

ideal place to take a break and drink a beer. Currently there is no tenant, so you have to bring your own

Rauenstein is a village in the southern Thuringian district of Sonneberg. It is part of the municipality of Frankenblick. Rauenstein is located in the Grümpen valley on the southern edge of the Thuringian Slate Mountains, about 2 km west of Effelder. The place near the older Rauenstein Castle of the same name was first mentioned in a document in 1445. Historically, the castle, owned by the von Schaumberg noble family for centuries, was the determining factor of the place. In 1783, Duke George I of Saxony-Meiningen licensed the Rauenstein porcelain factory founded by Johann Friedrich Greiner right next to the castle, which became the town's most important source of income and already had 180 employees in 1851. In 1910 the place was opened up by the Eisfeld – Sonneberg railway line. (Source: Wikipedia)

This rest area is located behind the church building, just a few steps up. Small square with seating and covered.

The so-called New Castle was built by Johann Tobias Otto, owner of the Obersteinach iron hammer works, as a mansion between 1747 and 1755 with the main building and the adjoining tower. Parts of a previous building from the 17th century were probably integrated. In 1771/72 an extension followed with a south and west wing. After a fire in 1799, the main building was rebuilt in 1804. In 1844, Sachsen-Meiningen acquired the hammer mill together with the property and used it as an administrative building and district court with a prison as well as for residential purposes. There were renovations at the end of the 19th century and in the context of use by the German Slate Museum in the 1990s. In addition, the building houses the Steinacher toy box, the city library, the tourist information and the office of the Silbersattel ski arena. The two-storey building complex consists of the main building with tower, the attached south wing and the free-standing west wing, which together enclose a courtyard. The facades are structured by stone pilaster strips and cornices. The main building is characterized by a mansard gable roof with a dwelling and a portico on the courtyard side. The four-storey tower has a square floor plan, which changes into an octagon on the fourth floor and is closed at the top by a French dome with a lantern. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Kulturdenkmale_in_Steinach_(Th%C3%BCringen)

Effelder Castle was essentially built in the 16th century in Effelder in southern Thuringia (Frankenblick). The listed building has been used as the town hall since 2000. A defense structure in an exposed spur location probably already existed in the late Middle Ages. It was probably the seat of the manor that the noble family von Schaumberg owned in Effelder in 1337 as a fiefdom of the Banz monastery. Around 1490 a residential tower was converted into a small castle, which Hans von Schaumberg had expanded between 1525 and 1533. From 1665 the owners often changed. In 1743, Luise Dorothea von Sachsen-Meiningen became mistress of the estate on the basis of a legacy, which the Gotha ducal house sold to the Chamber of the Duchy of Sachsen-Meiningen in 1811. The estate was dissolved in 1837/38. The farmer Johann Georg Stammberger bought the castle and used it as an inn after major renovations. In 1933 the Neustadt brewery Werner bought the property and had the attic expanded. After the Second World War, the expropriation took place. The new owner was the municipality of Effelder, which in 1955/56 commissioned the renovation according to plans by Max Brückner in the style of national tradition into a cultural center with a restaurant. In the 1950s, the remains of the castle courtyard were converted into a park and in 1970 the moat was backfilled. Since a renovation between 1998 and 2000, which was caused by a roof fire in 1996, the castle has been used as a representative administrative building by the community. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Effelder

The castle was built in 1250 by the Counts of Orlamünde and is now partially in ruins. It now houses a restaurant with a guesthouse and beer garden.

Rauenstein is a village in the southern Thuringian district of Sonneberg. It is part of the municipality Frankenblick. Rauenstein is located in the valley of the Grümpen on the southern edge of the Thuringian Slate Mountains about 2 km west of Effelder. The place at the same name and older castle Rauenstein was first mentioned in 1445. Historically, the castle, owned by the noble family von Schaumberg for centuries, was the determining factor of the place. Duke Georg I of Saxony-Meiningen licensed the Rauenstein porcelain factory founded by Johann Friedrich Greiner right next to the castle in 1783, which became the most important source of income for the town and in 1851 already had 180 employees. In 1910 the town was opened up by the Eisfeld – Sonneberg railway. During the Second World War, 170 women and men from France, Ukraine and Russia had to do forced labor in the Richard Schneider von Rauenstein company and in agriculture. [1]