Straufhain Castle

Today, only remnants of the former palas remain, but the thick walls are still quite impressive. Since written records about the castle are very rare, there have been several attempts to reconstruct the original castle, often overlaid with speculation. It is certain that it consisted of several buildings that occupied the entire summit; due to the cramped conditions, the area had to be artificially extended by substructures. A man-high shield wall surrounded the castle on the summit, incorporating the outer walls of the buildings. Slightly below, another defensive wall blocked access, which was only possible via drawbridges. Even further below, a rampart and ditch was followed by a ring wall surrounding the entire mountain. The water supply to the castle was problematic; in an emergency, it was barely possible from cisterns, a spring outside the ring wall was not reliable, and at the foot of the mountain, another provided fresh water that had to be brought up by donkeys. The water problem was certainly one of the main reasons for the later abandonment of the castle.

The neighboring settlements "strufedorp" (today Streufdorf) and "siduchestat" (today Seidingstadt), both now belonging to the municipality of Straufhain, are mentioned together in a document from 800; the castle may have already existed at that time. At that time, the noble family of Wildberg dominated the area. In 1156, a document from Bishop Gebhard of Würzburg attests to a "Helbold de Strufe" as a vassal of Margrave Albrecht the Bear in his capacity as Count of Weimar-Orlamünde (Lutz Partenheimer: Albrecht der Bär. Founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Principality of Anhalt. Cologne/Weimar/Vienna, 2nd ed. 2003, p. 130). Later, the Counts of Henneberg, the so-called "Popponen", owned the castle. Under Poppo VI, who married Countess Palatine Bertha of Saxony in 1136, Struphe Castle experienced a heyday; minnesingers entertained the societies and tournaments took place in siduchestat. Under Poppo VII (he called himself Poppo comes de Struphe and reigned from 1190 to 1245), Struphe Castle was a culturally significant imperial center. One of his sons, Hermann I of Henneberg and Count of Strauf, married Margarethe, the sister of the Dutch king, at the royal court in Mainz in 1245. They named their son Poppo again. During their time, the castle was also a cultural center, and from 1247, its sphere of influence also included the Coburg district. This made Struphe Castle the largest power center in the region south of the Thuringian Forest. Around 1525, the castle was probably destroyed. The neighboring castles Veste Coburg and Veste Heldburg took over the role of the abandoned Straufhain. The Dukes of Saxe-Hildburghausen loved the quiet place with the ruin; with it as a backdrop, theater performances and patriotic ceremonies took place on the mountain. In Seidingstadt, the dukes built a hunting lodge (which the GDR authorities allowed to decay and then demolished). The forests around Straufhain were always a popular hunting ground. Around 1780, four floors of the palas still stood as a ruin. Local history enthusiasts have repeatedly endeavored to preserve the ruin.