Osterburg Castle

The Osterstein castle ruin is a medieval castle ruin in the district of Henfstädt near Themar in the Hildburghausen district of Thuringia. The ruin of the spur castle is located on the Hainberg (583 m) above the upper Werra valley near Henfstädt in the Thuringian district of Hildburghausen.

First Mention

Osterburg castle most likely originated in the first half of the 13th century. The castle was first mentioned in an Elgersburg document dated March 7, 1268. In it, Osterburg castle and its appurtenances were considered equivalent to the neighboring Schleusingen office and issued to Countess Sophia of Henneberg as a dower. The appurtenances of the castle are to be understood as the bailiwick district, from which the administrative office of Themar later emerged.

From this, it can be concluded that Osterburg castle was probably built as a fortified administrative center during the land development of the County of Henneberg. The castle was located in the center of the Themar office at an important intersection of the Werra valley road with another old road, which came from the Gleichberg area and passed directly by Osterburg castle in a northerly direction.

County of Henneberg

Osterburg castle served as the seat of a Vogt (bailiff) as a representative of the sovereign for only a short time. In the Henneberg main division of 1274, the castle fell to the Hartenberg line of the Counts of Henneberg. Since the office and also the town of Themar were divided in this partition, the seat of the Vogt was most likely moved from the castle to the town. The division of the Themar office created extremely complicated ownership conditions for a long time, which naturally also affected Osterburg castle.

In 1359, the Henneberg line, named after Hartenburg near Römhild, was forced to pledge its share of the town and office of Themar, which also included Osterburg castle, to Counts Günter and Johann of Schwarzburg for 3000 pounds of Heller. The right of redemption of the pledge passed in 1371 with the entire County of Henneberg-Hartenberg through sale to the Henneberg-Aschach line. After a fierce dispute over the inheritance of the Hartenberg line, which died out in 1378, during which Themar and Marisfeld were even besieged and some surrounding villages are said to have been devastated, the Counts of Schwarzburg were confirmed in possession of Osterburg castle in 1379. However, they already pledged the castle to the Lords of Bibra in 1380.

In 1416, Wilhelm II of Henneberg-Schleusingen († 1426), whose line had received the other half of the town and office of Themar in 1274, bought back the right of redemption of the castle from the House of Schwarzburg. Nevertheless, Osterburg castle remained the pledged property of the Lords of Bibra, who probably contributed much to the expansion of the castle. For example, in 1439, Count Wilhelm of Henneberg demanded that the Lords of Bibra remove the buildings they had erected at the moat and outer bailey of Osterburg castle. Whether this happened is not known. In 1453, the previous pledged property of the Lords of Bibra was converted into a fief, and the castle was bought back by Henneberg-Schleusingen in three installments from 1459 to 1468.

Decline of the Castle

After the reacquisition of Osterburg castle, the Vogt's seat from Themar seems to have been moved back to the castle for a few years, but in the last decades of the 15th century, the castle probably increasingly lost its importance. Although various maintenance measures were still carried out, already in the 90s of the 15th century, Countess Margarete of Henneberg-Schleusingen was asked whether Osterburg castle should now be abandoned. In 1496, a guard on the castle appeared for the last time in the official accounts of Themar, so it can be assumed with almost certainty that Osterburg castle was left open around 1500.