Reifenstein Castle

The feudal lords and thus owners of the first castle were probably the Eppensteiners, followed by the Traungauers. Their vassals, the Reifensteiners, were a branch of the Liechtensteins. They are considered the builders of the fortress in the 12th century. Initially, vassals of the Liechtensteins from the Galler family were appointed as burgraves.

Towards the end of the 13th century, its first expansion took place, which was continued more intensively in the 14th century. Dietmar von Liechtenstein owned Reifenstein in the 13th century, in addition to Offenburg. With the extinction of the Liechtenstein-Offenburg line, the suzerainty of the castle fell to the sovereign. In 1300, Ortlin d. J. von Reifenstein is mentioned as a feudal tenant.

The last Reifensteiners around 1400 were the brothers Georg, Otto, and Andree. Then the sovereign appointed administrators to the castle, such as Sigmund Scheuflinger in 1446 and Hans Pfaffendorfer in 1459. At the beginning of the 16th century, the fief was in the possession of the brothers Hans, Andree, and Christof von Ungnad. They sold Reifenstein in 1521 to Seebald Pögl from Thörl. Under him, Reifenstein experienced its heyday. He expanded it into a magnificent Renaissance castle. In 1588, the lordship was pledged to Offo and Carl von Teufenbach and finally sold the following year.

After Carl's death in 1612, the heirs attempted joint administration, but in 1623, an inheritance division occurred. One half went to Wolf Mathes von Königsberg, the other to Christof Alban von Saurau. Gregor Freiherr von Sidenitsch was able to buy both halves by 1659. In 1698, Prince Ferdinand von Schwarzenberg acquired the lordship of Reifenstein. Reifenstein Castle was inhabited by employees of the estate administration until the beginning of the 19th century, but was eventually abandoned. The ruin with the surrounding forests still belongs to the Schwarzenberg family today.