Stierberg Castle

The Stierberg Schlossberg is a long, wooded rock ridge that stretches from northeast to southwest. The ridge mostly drops vertically on its sides. In front of the southwestern end there is a saddle that separates part of the rock ridge from the rest of the mountain. This ridge was used for the construction of the upper castle. It drops vertically by up to approx. 20 meters on almost all sides; only the access side in the northeast rises steeply by approx. 18 meters. Another ascent was probably in the southeast, from the walled area in front of the southern exit of the castle cave. There, a steep, gorge-like ascent led upwards via stairs.

On the upper castle, with an area of approx. 60x30 meters, only a few remains of the curtain wall and a tower, presumably the keep, are preserved. The wall remains only have their ashlar facing in the south of the upper castle and on the northwest side of the tower, but this is also threatened by decay. A large wall remnant, presumably of a building, still stands on the northeast side of the upper castle; it is approx. 11 meters long, 6 to 8 meters high and 1.3 meters wide and has two buttresses and a corbel on its exterior. This wall remnant probably belonged to the large palas in the southeast part of the upper castle. Kunstmann suspects a small palas next to the large one. Other buildings of the upper castle were the already mentioned tower and a cistern, of which nothing more can be seen. The ascent was in the northeast of the rock ridge and started from the lower saddle, presumably via stairs, through a gatehouse or a gate tower, as can be seen in an engraving by L. Schlemmer from 1799.

The lower castle was located approx. 20 meters below the upper castle at the northwestern foot of the rock ridge and in the saddle to the north. Not much of it can be seen anymore. Now, the vogt's house from 1778 stands in the area of the lower castle. Of the former granary, only traces of the terrain and a foundation wall remain. The access road from the village of Stierberg in the northwest formed a gate alley in the area of the lower castle. Formerly, a gatehouse or gate tower also stood at the entrance to the lower castle. In the south of the lower castle, a second cistern can still be seen. At the northern end of the lower castle, a widely visible round tower stands on a rock tower. The tower consists of rubble masonry and has a diameter of 5.5 meters, a wall thickness of 1.3 meters, and a height of six meters. Its segmental arched entrance towards the lower castle was only accessible by a ladder. The tower was covered with tiles, as tile remnants below the tower show. It served to defend the castle against attacks from the north and was included in the surrounding wall of the lower castle.

A special feature is the castle cave. The natural cave was artificially extended and probably served, among other things, as the castle's cellar. It runs through the rock ridge of the upper castle and had three entrances: a northern one in the area of the lower castle, one in the south of the rock ridge, and one in the west of the rock ridge. The opening in the west was walled up except for a notch, but is now completely sealed. In front of the southern exit, which is walled up except for a small square opening, a shield wall-like fortification was built at a distance of approx. 2 to 4 meters. Whether it had an opening to the outside is unclear. It forms a small forecourt, created by the wall and the rock ridge, from which the aforementioned gorge-like second ascent led up to the upper castle. The ascent led between the rock ridge and a projecting rock tower on the slope of a short saddle connecting the rock ridge and the rock tower, up steep stairs. The purpose of this structure is unclear. Perhaps it served to attack an enemy who had penetrated the lower castle from behind, or to bring supplies from the cave cellar to the upper castle, perhaps even by elevator. A tower probably also stood on the rock tower.