Wolfsberg Castle (Obertrubach)

The ruins of Wolfsberg Castle (Burgruine Wolfsberg) are the remains of a former high mediaeval, aristocratic, castle which stands high above the Trubach valley over the eponymous village of Wolfsberg. The village is part of the municipality of Obertrubach in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim in the German state of Bavaria. The upper bailey is permanently open to the public and serves as a viewing point; the lower bailey is partly in private ownership and is not accessible. The ruins of this spur castle lie within the Franconian Switzerland-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park on an eastwards-pointing hill spur at a height of 436 metres. The spur is separated by a natural saddle from the plateau to the west. The spur sits between the Trubach valley to the south and a dry valley on the northern side of the spur that opens into the Trubach valley. The ruins may be reached from the village of Wolfsberg. Egloffstein Castle can be seen below in the Trubach valley; in the opposite direction is a burgstall in Obertrubach, the ruins of Bärnfels Castle and Leienfels Castle. To the south stands Hiltpoltstein Castle. Wolfsberg Castle was probably built around 1150 by the free knights of Wolfsberg. The lords of Wolfsberg are first recorded in 1169 when a certain Gozpold de Wolfesperch is mentioned. It is thought that they were descended from the family of free nobles of Schönfeld-Gößweinstein. With the extinction of the lords of Wolfsberg around 1204 the castle went to the lords of Stein, ministeriales of the Bishops of Bamberg, who named themselves after the castle from 1244. Around 1333 the castle was sold to the lords of Egloffstein. In the deeds a Siboto of Egloffstein is mentioned as the occupier of the castle in 1358. From 1383 the castle is mentioned among the estates of the Bishopric of Bamberg. It is unclear how this came about. The castle became the seat of an episcopal administrative office and was repeatedly enfeoffed from the 15th to the 17th centuries.