Thurnau Castle

Thurnau Castle is a castle and palace complex in Thurnau (Kulmbach district) in Upper Franconia. It is one of the largest and most significant castle complexes in Northern Bavaria with construction phases from the 13th to the 19th century.

The oldest part of the castle is the Kemenate, the "Hus uf dem Stein", from the 13th century. It was built by the Knights of Förtsch. Between 1430 and 1477, the archive building and a residential wing were added. In 1565, the castle passed to the families of Künsberg and Giech. In 1576, the castle was divided between the two families. From 1600 to 1606, Hans-Georg von Giech erected the Hans-Georgen-Bau in Renaissance forms. In 1731, the Giechs, who had been elevated to Imperial Counts in 1695, bought their half of the castle from the Künsbergs. In the same year, the Carl-Maximilian-Bau was added in the Upper Courtyard. Inside it is the so-called Schönburg Hall with landscape tapestries from the end of the 18th century. In 1833, the gatehouse burned down and was replaced by a new building in neo-Gothic forms by 1837. Around 1840, the tea house was built. In 1923, the last Count of Giech, Friedrich Karl, moved out of the castle; he died in 1938 without direct descendants. Afterwards, the castle came to the family of the Barons Hiller von Gaertringen through inheritance. Since the 1970s, it has been undergoing extensive restoration.