Lichtenstein Castle

The exact construction period of Lichtenstein Castle is not fully archaeologically confirmed, but ceramic finds suggest its existence as early as the early 13th century. The castle was first documented in 1270 in connection with Heinrich von Lichtenstein, a ministerialis whose family likely served the Empire and maintained ties with the Schenken von Reicheneck. A 16th-century tradition reports the castle's destruction due to a feud, which historians surmise occurred around 1325, a period marked by conflicts between the Schenken von Reicheneck and the Imperial City of Nuremberg. In 1349, the castle came into the possession of the Palatine Counts and was pledged in 1353 to Charles IV, the German and Bohemian King, who established a Bohemian administrative office there. Bohemian rule ended in 1373 when Charles IV sold the castle to the Bavarian dukes. After further pledges, Lichtenstein Castle was conquered and destroyed in June 1421 during the Bavarian War by Count Palatine Johann von Neumarkt-Neunburg. In later records, such as a land survey from 1503/04 and a land register from 1516, Lichtenstein is described merely as a ruin or castle site.