Steckelburg Castle (Ruin) (Ramholz)

The history of Steckelberg dates back a long way. A predecessor complex, the ancestral seat of the Lords of Steckelberg, existed from 1131 to 1391 on a nearby spur of the Breiter First. Between 1244 and 1276, the castle was briefly owned by the Diocese of Würzburg before being pledged to Count Reinhard I of Hanau in 1274. In 1276, the castle was destroyed by order of King Rudolf I, as it allegedly served as a robber baron's nest and threatened the peace of the land. Despite the royal prohibition against rebuilding the castle, Ulrich von Hutten erected the current castle complex a few hundred meters away in 1388. After Ulrich's death, the castle passed into the possession of the entire family. In 1458, after a dispute with the liege lord Würzburg, the castle was besieged and conquered, but was returned and rebuilt in 1459 after a settlement. The humanist Ulrich von Hutten was born here in 1488. During the Peasants' War in 1525, rebellious peasants failed in their siege.