Kalbsburg Castle

The first documented mention of Kalbsburg dates back to 1197, when Pope Celestine III confirmed revenues in this area to the Spieskappel Monastery. In 1320, the Fritzlar Collegiate Church granted further feudal estates to the monastery there. Following Hessian victories in the Mainz-Hessian War of 1427, particularly the battles near Großenenglis and Fulda, the Archbishopric of Mainz lost large parts of its possessions to the Landgraviate of Hesse. Landgrave Ludwig I subsequently had a watchtower built in 1431 on the Hessian border with Mainz-controlled Fritzlar, initially named after the settlement of Bunebach. The name Kalbsburg only became established in the mid-16th century. Landgrave Ludwig II granted the tower in 1448 to Philipp von Borken and later to Henne von Wehren. In 1497, Landgrave Wilhelm I transferred the border tower as a male fief to Philipp von Wildungen, whose successors expanded the estate.