Ligist (Lubgast) Castle

Ligist was part of the extensive territories that Emperor Otto III gifted to Margrave Adalbero of Eppenstein in the year 1000. It later passed to the Wildoners through inheritance. The castle was probably built towards the end of the 12th century and expanded in the 13th century.

The first known lord of the castle appears to be Ulrich de Lubgast in 1222, after whom the fortified building was also called "Veste Lubgast". The Lubgasts were vassals of the Wildoners. Around 1355, the related Lords of Saurau took over their ancestral castle, which they owned as a free property. In 1443, Ulrich von Saurau and his namesake cousin were owners of Ligist. In 1621, a part of the castle, including the armory, burned down, but it was soon restored.

In the 18th century, the indebtedness of the lordship had already reached a considerable level, but the Saurau family held Ligist until their extinction in the second half of the 19th century. They had already been living since 1783 in the Meierhof located below the castle hill, which they had expanded into a palace. In 1797, the castle already showed severe damage. French troops, who resided here in 1809, finally turned it into a ruin. In 1870, Ligist passed by inheritance to the Counts Goess. In 1928, the Sovereign Order of Malta bought the forest estate. In 1975, the Ligist Castle Association took over the maintenance of the complex. In 2010, the Castle Association was dissolved after the completion of the renovation work.