Ebneth Castle

Ebneth Castle is located in Ebneth, Upper Franconia, a district of the town of Burgkunstadt. After being destroyed and rebuilt several times, it is currently in private ownership.

Another castle or fortress previously stood on the site of the castle. In 1353, Wolfram von Marschalk and his father Friedrich from the Marschalk family of Ebneth received the castle as a burgward from Archbishop Leopold III. Around 1400, the family was listed as the owner of the castle complex in Ebneth. However, it is unclear whether this was the same building, as there could have been a second manor in Ebneth.

The core building of the present castle was erected around 1490 as a manor by the brothers Kunz and Heiz von Ebneth. Shortly before, they had received half a castle in Ebneth as a fief from the Saxon Elector Friedrich III. After it was plundered and burned down in the Peasants' War and only partially rebuilt by 1585, the castle suffered further damage in the Thirty Years' War and burned down in 1649. Eight years later, it was rebuilt.

At the beginning of the 18th century, there was no male descendant of the Marschalks of Ebneth. On August 16, 1705, Christof Friedrich von Seckendorff married Wilhelmina Marschälkin von Ebenth, the daughter of the estate owner. After her death in 1733, he inherited the castle and its associated property. He had minor alterations carried out on the northern part, and between 1850 and 1875, his descendants carried out renovations on the castle complex.

In 1972, the castle complex was renovated with the help of monument preservation. Since nothing was changed in the structural substance, the castle has almost the same appearance as in 1657. In addition to the castle building, there is a chapel, a forester's house, a brewery, a hunting lodge, a manor house, and an official's house, as well as various barns and stables.

The entire complex, which also houses a model railway shop, is in private ownership.