Hollenberg Castle (Ruin)

The castle ruin Hollenberg was a late medieval administrative castle, presumably built by Emperor Charles IV. It is located on a hilltop above the hamlet of Hollenberg in the municipality of Pegnitz in the Upper Franconian district of Bayreuth in Bavaria, Germany. Only some building remains and ground traces of the castle have been preserved; the upper castle now serves as a viewpoint.

The ruin of the former hilltop castle is located in the eastern part of Franconian Switzerland, a part of the Franconian Jura low mountain range, on the summit of the Hollenberg Schlossberg. The site of the vanished castle is about 4,150 meters west of the Protestant parish church of St. Bartholomew in Pegnitz and stands approximately 100 meters above the valley.

Nearby are other former medieval castles: to the northeast, the Wartberg castle site on the Warenberg above Kosbrunn; near Pegnitz, the Böheimstein castle site on the Schlossberg; and a castle site near Nemschenreuth. To the west, above the town of Pottenstein, lies the impressive Pottenstein Castle. About one kilometer southwest of the Hollenberg ruin, amidst the Hollenberg forest, is the Pirkenreuther Chapel, the medieval church ruin of the vanished village of Pirkenreuth.

The Bohemian Emperor Charles IV is considered the builder of Hollenberg Castle. In 1357, he bought the free imperial city of Pegnitz from the Landgraves of Leuchtenberg. The area around Hollenberg was also acquired by him.

In 1363, a Bohemian bailiff was mentioned for the first time at the castle, so it could have been built between 1357 and 1363. Whether a predecessor complex existed is unclear but cannot be ruled out. The castle was first mentioned in writing in the Salbuch of 1366–68. Several Bohemian bailiffs are traceable at the castle until 1387.

During the war between the Bohemian King Wenceslaus and the Palatine King Rupert, the castle changed hands several times and also appears to have been damaged. The castle apparently fell to King Rupert, because after his death in 1410, it came into the possession of his son, Duke John of Wittelsbach, during an inheritance division. In 1465, after the conclusion of a treaty between the Crown of Bohemia and Duke Otto, Bohemian enfeoffment letters for Hollenberg Castle were issued again.

Hans von Rabenstein was the last bailiff to reside at the castle; it was probably destroyed in the Peasants' War in 1525. An official account reveals that Hollenberg Castle was already a ruin in 1570. It was not rebuilt.

The castle ruin is freely accessible; it can be easily reached from the hamlet of Hollenberg by taking the hiking trail uphill to the south from there. From the castle, there is a view to the west as far as Gößweinstein with its castle.