Heldritt Castle

Heldritt is a district of Bad Rodach in Upper Franconia. The von Heldritt family were vassals of the Counts of Henneberg. In addition to two residences (Ober- and Unterschloss) in Heldritt, they also owned residences in Bockstadt, Brattendorf, Einöd, Gompertshausen, Gossmannsrod, Harras, Schwarzbach, Tannhausen, Waldsachsen, Weimarschmieden and Weißenbrunn. Over the centuries, they made extensive donations to surrounding monasteries.

The Bamberg auxiliary bishop Johann von Heldritt, who died in 1416, probably also came from the Heldritt family; his tombstone has been preserved in the church of the Dominican monastery in Bamberg.

In 1626 and 1630, the plague claimed lives in Heldritt. Soon after, in 1632, Heldritt was largely destroyed by Bavarian and imperial soldiers. By 1642, Heldritt was almost deserted and two-thirds of its arable land lay fallow.

After all the inhabitants of the Oberschloss had died, it was acquired by Adam Koelbel von Geissing in 1662. Since 1831, the Oberschloss has been owned by the von Butler family.

In 1790, Erdmann von Heldritt, the last male owner of the Unterschloss, died. Of his six daughters, the municipality of Heldritt acquired the Unterschloss together with the associated land for 17,000 guilders.