Frauenberg Castle (Ruin) (Beltershausen)

Frauenberg Castle is a medieval castle ruin in Frauenberg, a district of the municipality of Ebsdorfergrund near Marburg, Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Central Hesse.

The ruin is located on the then strategically important long-distance road "through the long Hesse", about 6 kilometers south of Marburg on a 379-meter high basalt cone, the Frauenberg, where basalt was mined until 1913. The castle itself is located at 370 meters above sea level. The Frauenberg is part of the Lahnberge and is a nature reserve.

The Celts had already used the Frauenberg as an outpost between their fortresses Dünsberg and Amöneburg.

Although only documented in 1296, the castle was already built in 1252 by Duchess Sophie of Brabant, the daughter of Saint Elisabeth and mother of the still underage Landgrave Heinrich I of Hesse, to create a counter-position to the Mainzian Amöneburg Castle and to monitor the "Langen Hessen". The castle was occupied by burgmannen, who subsequently called themselves von Frauynberg. It is probably a side line of the Rau von Holzhausen.

The castle was pledged several times in the 14th century, including to the Riedesel and von Dernbach families. In 1350, the castle became the seat of the Hessian office of Frauenberg, which was merged with the Kirchhain office in 1604.

The castle lost its strategic importance by 1437 at the latest, after the Landgraves of Hesse had finally defeated the Archbishops of Mainz in 1427 and had also come into possession of the County of Ziegenhain in 1450. Nevertheless, it was subsequently destroyed twice in 1470 and 1489; the reasons for this are not clear. Until 1528, the complex was still partially inhabited. After that, it gradually fell into disrepair and served the inhabitants of surrounding villages as a source of building material.

Since the late 18th century, the castle ruin has been used for tourism. Caroline Schelling mentioned several stays at the ruin in her letters. In 1873, the gate of the castle complex was restored. The mountain and castle ruin have belonged to the city of Marburg since 1906 and are freely accessible.