Mühlenbach Castle

Around 1300, Hermann II. von Helfenstein had Mühlenbach Castle built in the headwaters of the Mühlenbach stream. The Helfenstein family, who also owned the ancestral Helfenstein Castle and Sporkenburg, gave their name to the surrounding imperial lordship. In the 14th century, Mühlenbach evolved into a Ganerbenburg, jointly used by the Helfenstein and Brandenburg families. After the sale of the Brandenburg share in 1445 to Johann von Helfenstein and the subsequent extinction of the Helfenstein line, the castle passed into the possession of the von Rolshausen family in 1580, and in 1626 to the von Wrede and von Stein-Kallenfels families. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was destroyed but subsequently rebuilt. Its final destruction occurred in 1692 by French troops during the War of the Palatine Succession, leaving only the main tower intact. This tower served as a granary in the early 20th century.