Auerbach Castle

Auerbach Castle, today called the Red Tower, is the remnant of a spur castle on a mountain spur in the city of Auerbach/Vogtl. in the Vogtland district in Saxony.

The castle was built in the 12th century during the Ostexpansion as a medieval stronghold for the protection of Frankish and Thuringian settlers.

The first documented mention of the castle, which was not purely a lord's residence, occurred in 1348 as Castrum Urbach with the castellan Conradus de Urbach, a vassal of the Vögte of Gera, Weida, and Plauen. From 1350, it remained in the possession of the Vögte, who expanded the castle several times. Originally, it had a drawbridge spanning a 17-meter-long moat. The tower itself had its entrance at a height of 12 meters and was originally only accessible via a rope ladder. It was not until 1705 that it received a second access, which was reachable from the attic of the adjacent residential building.

In 1757, the castle was destroyed by a city fire and, except for a remnant of the keep, demolished. In 1849, the manufacturer Keffel acquired the ruin site and had the ruin rebuilt in a greatly altered form. The tower received a wooden cap and a wooden spiral staircase and thereafter served as an observation tower. In 1909, the city of Auerbach bought the area and began further reconstruction and expansion work. The tower was raised, and the wooden cap was replaced by a tiled roof. On January 15, 1911, the restaurant "Schloßschänke" was opened in the castle building.