Unteraufseß Castle

Unteraufseß Castle is a castle in Aufseß in the Upper Franconian district of Bayreuth. Unteraufseß Castle is the ancestral seat of the von Aufseß family, which is still in family ownership today. It is located in the village on a hill. The keep is the oldest part, built on a rock. The complex was expanded into a refuge castle with further small additions. The later added castle church, the main building, and economic buildings were surrounded by a castle wall and protected until the Thirty Years' War by another encircling wall at the foot of the hill. The castle was affected by the invasion of the Hussites, the Peasants' War, and the Thirty Years' War. The designation as Unteraufseß only arose in distinction to the higher-lying Oberaufseß Castle. The division of the family into a Protestant and a Catholic line led to tensions, especially during the reconstruction of the castle church. Both castles can be visited.

Hans von und zu Aufseß set up a study in the former refuge castle, the oldest part. In the castle, a chapel furnished by him in the romanticizing 19th century provides information about the family's relationships and traditions, including a series of related family coats of arms. The Ritterkapelle Haßfurt served as a model for the chapel.