Lichtenberg Castle (Ruin)

Lichtenberg Castle is located in the north of the town of Lichtenberg, on the western edge of the Selbitz Valley. The town belongs to the Hof district in the Bavarian administrative region of Upper Franconia.

The castle was probably built in the 12th century. Whether a predecessor building existed has not been conclusively clarified. The Dukes of Merania are considered as potential builders. They died out in 1248 with the death of Duke Otto VIII. Through his daughter Beatrix, who was married to Hermann II of Orlamünde, the lordship and castle passed by inheritance to the Counts of Orlamünde.

Through an inheritance division in 1414, Count Sigismund (1406–1447) received the complex. As a result of conflicts between the Counts of Orlamünde and the Landgraves of Thuringia, he had to pledge it as a fief to Elector Frederick I of Brandenburg in 1427. A short time later, the castle was sold to Caspar von Waldenfels. In 1430, the castle was successfully defended against the Hussites, and in 1444, during the Waldenfels Feud, against a Nuremberg contingent. In the Second Margrave War, the castle was destroyed in 1554 by imperial troops under Heinrich von Plauen while pursuing Margrave Albert Alcibiades.

From 1560, a new castle-like building was constructed. This was sold in 1618 by the brothers Christoph III and Hans Rudolf von Waldenfels to the Lithuanian-Polish Prince Janusius Radziwill. Through his widow, the castle and lordship passed to Margrave Christian of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in 1628.

In 1634, the castle was burned down by imperial troops during the Thirty Years' War. Restored, the existing buildings burned down again in 1682. A reconstruction did not take place.