Upper Castle Mitwitz

The Upper Castle is located in the municipality of Mitwitz in the district of Kronach in the administrative region of Upper Franconia. Built in the late Middle Ages, it received its current appearance around 1713. The castle is surrounded by an extensive park. The ensemble is a protected monument.

When, during the Thirty Years' War from 1631 to 1634, conflicts between Catholic Kronach and Protestant Mitwitz also led to looting in the market town, the Upper Castle also fell victim to the flames. Only the cellar with its foundations and remnants of the ground floor with its groin vaults remained of the original building. The exact year of construction of the original building cannot be proven by documents, but due to the type of vault, it can be dated to the late Middle Ages (14th-15th century).

It was not until 1713 that the castle was rebuilt in the Baroque style on the old walls according to the design by Carlo Domenico Lucchese. The three-story building without side wings, oriented with its entrance side to the northwest, features a seven-axis facade with an indicated three-axis central risalit. Above the main entrance, a mighty balcony rests on four columns, thus forming an open drive-through hall. Instead of the usual triangular gable, a wall band with the double coat of arms of the Würtzburgers is placed on the apparent risalit, protruding only slightly above the hip roof and thus emphasizing the width of the building.

On the left side of the castle, the original, still visible masonry of the ground floor was used to add a winter garden on the first floor, which, like the exterior design in delicate pink and white, emphasizes the light, Italian style of the building.

Probably the first owners of the Upper Castle until 1425 were the Lords of Schaumberg, then the Lords of Rosenau. The new building in 1713 was commissioned by Johann Ludwig von Würtzburg. With Imperial Councillor Ludwig Freiherr von Würtzburg, the noble line died out in 1922. In the churchyard of St. James' Church (Kirchplatz 2), 23 tombstones document the family history of the Würtzburgers. Annie von Würtzburg, daughter of Ludwig, was married to Theodor II von Cramer-Klett. After Ludwig's death, the property passed to the married-in family, who still own the estate today.