Erbach Castle

The castle's origins date back to the 12th century, with a round moated castle featuring a ditch and wall first documented in 1303. This initial structure, likely built by Schenk Gerhard I in the first half of the 13th century on an island in the Mümling river, possibly served for security during conflicts with the bailiffs of Lorsch Abbey and the Palatine Counts. The keep, erected around 1200, stands on thousands of oak piles, as does the entire castle. Between 1500 and 1530, it was converted into a Renaissance castle. During the Thirty Years' War in 1623, the complex was damaged during a raid by Croatian cavalry, which was ultimately repelled. From 1736, Count Georg Wilhelm zu Erbach-Erbach began a Baroque reconstruction on the medieval foundations, filling in the waterways.