Dörflas Castle

Dörflas Castle is a former castle in the Dörflas district of Marktredwitz in the Wunsiedel district, which is currently used as an inn.

The castle was the seat of the von Sparneck family from 1569 to 1634, until they moved to Wunsiedel due to the Thirty Years' War. Hieronymus Ludwig von Sparneck and Weißdorf lived here from 1609 until shortly before his death in 1634. Here, his wife Helene, née von Eckersberg, gave birth to their daughter Anna Kunigunda on December 21, 1621, who, however, died at a young age in July 1635 in Wunsiedel and was buried with her father in the parish church of St. Veit.

The building remained in the possession of the von Sparneck family until 1744. As a seniorate fief, it remained, like Bernstein Castle, in family possession long after the extinction of the Sparnecks in their ancestral territory around Sparneck, as it passed to family members of the so-called Bohemian line and members in today's Upper Palatinate. These connections were investigated by local historian Elisabeth Jäger.

Dörflas Castle was granted as a fief to the Hagen family. From 1655, it served as an inn with a malting house and brewery. By the middle of the 18th century, it developed into the largest brewery in the area. Georg Christoph Hagen was able to acquire half of the Lorenzreuth manor in 1773 and began building the new castle there.

His son-in-law and successor Michael Hermann Theobald Sperl significantly rebuilt the building between 1780 and 1783. The business was leased to the Lang family. In 1808, Johann Christoph Sperl bought the inn with the malting and brewing house from his father. The property was known at that time as Gasthof zur bayerischen Krone (Inn of the Bavarian Crown). Johann Christoph Sperl died childless in 1825, and his widow married Johann Adam Reichel in 1826. With him, the name Goldener Löwe (Golden Lion) appeared for the first time.

In 1841, it was sold to Adam Haberstroh. In a fire in 1843, the roof and other parts of the building were damaged.

In 1870, Johann Schübel acquired the property. His son Wilhelm expanded the ballroom in 1902. In 1924, Wilhelm's son-in-law Heinrich Dick, who later became mayor of Dörflas, took over the inn with the brewery. Brewing operations ceased in 1948.

In 1980, the then owner of the Kaiserhofbrauerei in Marktredwitz, Hannsjörg Maximilian (called Jokl) Märklstetter, acquired the inn with the hall extension and began renovations. During this process, the Renaissance wooden ceiling in the inn's parlor also reappeared. In 1988, the ballroom on the first floor was reopened. In 1995, two old beer storage cellars were converted into guest rooms.