Castle Map

Ruin

Hohnstein Castle (Harz)

Germany · 12th century

Founded
1120
Heritage status
Heritage monument in Thuringia
Location
Neustadt/Harz
Coordinates
51.57°, 10.8375°
Links
OpenStreetMap · Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Hohnstein Castle (Harz) in Germany
Photo: Norbert Radtke · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Hohnstein Castle (German: Burg Hohnstein) is one of the largest and best-preserved castle ruins in Germany and is located near Neustadt in the vicinity of Nordhausen in Thuringia.

The ruins are located on a high, rocky spur which today is covered in woods, about 1 km northeast of the village of Neustadt on the southern edge of the Harz mountains.

Honstein Castle was built in the time of the Hohenstaufen-Guelph conflict for the throne. Its foundation is attributed to Konrad von Sangerhausen, a relative of the legendary Thuringian count, Louis the Springer.

The Counts of Hohnstein, together with the Counts of Ilefeld who had married into them, inherited the lordship of the South Harz from Konrad. The newly founded dynasty of the Honstein-Ilfeld counts introduced the family Christian name, Elger, and chose Honstein Castle as their family seat; the modest Ilburg in nearby Ilfeld was probably abandoned at this point in time. The first mention of Honstein Castle was in 1202. Like the Thuringian landgraves, the Honstein clan rapidly amassed a considerable amount of territory, which included the regions around Arnstadt and Gotha in the Thuringian Basin. The first boom period for the family during the 13th century was followed by a loss of importance when, in 1315, the estate was divided between several family lines.

Honstein Castle soon became militarily outdated. In 1380 it was captured for the first time and then again in 1412 during a family dispute, which degenerated into the so-called Flegler War, during the course of which the Hohnstein counts lost their family castle.

During the Peasants' War, Honstein was still seen as a secure fortification and was therefore selected by the abbott of Ilfeld Abbey to protect himself and the abbey treasure. Whilst the Counts of Hohnstein saw out the end of their reign at Lohra Castle (they died out in 1593), Hohnstein Castle was sold into the possession of the Counts of Stolberg, who modernised the fort militarily and structurally at great expense (including an artillery tower) and turned it into a typical Renaissance Schloss. During this period it became one of the largest castles in the Harz.

During the Thirty Years War, however, Hohnstein Castle was destroyed by fire.

Text adapted from “Hohnstein Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Hohnstein Castle (Harz) ranks #7,302 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #793 of the 927 mapped in Germany. Founded 1120, it is older than 85% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 810 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

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