Grünsberg Castle

Grünsberg's origins may lie in a defensive tower from the time of the Hungarian invasions around 945. Before 1231, the fortified complex was built on imperial land and granted as a fief to Albertus Rindesmule de Nurnberch in 1231, who subsequently called himself Rindesmule de Grundisperc. After the extinction of the Staufer dynasty, the imperial fief passed to Ludwig the Strict, but the castle remained with the Rindsmaul family. In 1311, Ludwig the Bavarian pledged the castle to the Rindsmaul brothers. In 1315, Ludwig transferred the right of pledge to Knight Seyfried Schweppermann, who had helped him in the Battle of Gammelsdorf. In 1433, the Freudenberger family took over the castle, which was damaged during the First Margrave War. Following the Truchsess von Pommersfelden, who succeeded in 1481, the castle was burned down by Nuremberg troops in the Landshut War of Succession and fell to the Imperial City of Nuremberg in 1504. After being leased and returned, the patrician family Behaim acquired the estate in 1529 but only carried out partial renovations. In 1552, the castle, already considered a ruin, was again damaged in the Second Margrave War. The Oertel family acquired the complex in 1556 and rebuilt it, with the main living quarters completed in 1561. Subsequently, other Nuremberg patrician families alternated as owners, including the Haller von Hallerstein and the Paumgartner von Holnstein.