Büchold Castle

Büchold Castle, also known as Büchold Fortress, is located in Büchold, a district of Arnstein in the Lower Franconian district of Main-Spessart.

As part of the Büchold community, the castle looks back on a long and eventful history.

The Büchold hilltop castle ("castrum") was first mentioned in a document in 1299 as a monastic settlement of the Würzburgian Order of St. John. A few years later, due to high debts of the Johanniterkommende, the property passed into the possession of the Counts of Rieneck and was acquired by the Lords of Thüngen in 1364.

For more than 200 years, it remained in their possession with the entire Büchold lordship; with the House of Thüngen, the Lutheran faith also found its way into Büchold.

In 1596, Dietrich Echter von Mespelbrunn took over Büchold Castle and lordship, and the Counter-Reformation began. It was a time of inquisition and witch trials, which did not spare Büchold.

At the end of the 17th century, a magnificent baroque garden was laid out east of the castle in the style of the time, which lasted for over 100 years. The entrance to this complex, known in its time as a jewel of baroque garden art, was elaborately restored by the Büchold association ring only in 2006.

From 1652 to 1749, the castle was a feudal lordship of the families von Dalberg, von Greifenclau and von Ingelheim. With the dissolution of the princely office of Büchold, the castle and its surrounding grounds gradually fell into disrepair from 1769 onwards.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a private individual acquired the castle ruin, and for almost 200 years, his family would operate a farm from this property, which only ended in 2000.

In 2007, the castle ruin was bought by brewery owner Dr. Susan Schubert and her husband Henning Glawatz and thoroughly renovated from 2008 to 2009. It remains in the private possession of the Schubert/Glawatz family today.