Neustadt Castle

The origins of the Old Castle date back to the 1430s, when it was built as a moated castle on the northern edge of the city under Margrave Albrecht Achilles. From 1451, it served as his residence. After his death in 1486, it became the dower house for his second wife, Margravine Anna of Saxony. She resided there for a quarter of a century, shaping the castle into an intellectual center of the Franconian Hohenzollern lands. With the completion of the New Castle in 1626, the Old Castle lost its prominence and was subsequently used as an ancillary building, including as the residence of the district governor. The complex underwent several renovations, including a round tower, a gatehouse, and a polygonal core building that was extended in a horseshoe shape by later additions. From 1811, it served as a Bavarian tax office, and from 1892, as a municipal hospital.