Wernfels Castle

Wernfels Castle is a hilltop castle above the Spalt district of Wernfels in the Central Franconian district of Roth.

It stands in an isolated location in the wooded Rangau high above the Rezat Valley, within sight of Abenberg Castle.

The oldest part of the castle is the large residential building, which can be dated to the second half of the 13th century based on its early Gothic architectural forms and a wooden post in the cellar dendrochronologically dated to after 1260 (probably around 1270/80). This corresponds quite well with the first – indirect – mention of the castle in 1283, when Albert II "dictus Rindesmul de Werdenfels" is named in a document. The castle thus belonged to the imperial ministeriales Rindsmaul, who probably also built it. The close connection between Wernfels and the Burgraves of Nuremberg, asserted in older literature, cannot be proven, even though they had influence in the region with their nearby Abenberg Castle. In 1284, "Albertus dictus Rindesmul senior de Werdenvels imperialis aule ministerialis" sold Wernfels Castle to Prince-Bishop Reinboto of Eichstätt. The Prince-Bishops further expanded the now official castle in the 14th-15th centuries, in particular surrounding the older core building with a curtain wall and gate tower. In 1600, Bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen had the interior of the main building rebuilt; the wooden ceilings and window frames largely date from this period. This reconstruction is documented by two inscriptions, but the assumption that a lightning strike had previously destroyed the castle finds no evidence in the sources. Rather, it was probably a thorough renovation. Further small extensions followed in the 18th century. In 1803, the Prince-Bishopric of Eichstätt was secularized, and the castle was sold to private individuals. In 1882, Louis Braun, "royal professor and battle painter from Munich," acquired the castle and thus saved it from decay.