Dagestein Castle

Dagestein Castle is a castle located within the town at an elevation of approximately in the city of Vilseck, Schlossgasse 6-8, in the Bavarian district of Amberg-Sulzbach. It is one of the early castles in the Upper Palatinate.

The beginnings of the lowland castle, which was first documented at the end of the 12th century, are unclear. Archaeological investigations inside the castle complex have so far yielded no concrete evidence for an early medieval foundation of the complex.

In 1185, Vilseck was first mentioned in a document as part of the possessions of the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg. In 1205, a Megelaus von Dagestein was named in a document, and after the extinction of the Dagestein family, the lords of the castle named themselves after the aspiring town of Vilseck. The castle was expanded into a moated castle in the 15th century. During the feud between Götz von Berlichingen (Knight with the Iron Hand) and the Bishop of Bamberg, it was plundered and burned in 1512, but then rebuilt. In 1552, the complex, which was by then mainly used as a granary and prison, was conquered by Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades of Bayreuth. Around 1730, extensive new constructions took place, and in the course of secularization, parts of the castle were sold to Vilseck citizens in 1802. In the years 1796/97, the robber captain Franz Troglauer was imprisoned in the castle for several months. Today it is owned by the city; from 1999 to 2002, extensive renovations were carried out on the keep.