Castle tower

Even today, Bad Berneck is still connected with numerous old half-timbered buildings, ruins and especially with its landmark, the castle tower above the roofs of the city.

The Old Castle, as it was initially called, has many uncertainties with regard to the history of its origins, as it has not been documented to this day and has never been recorded exactly.

Since it was in 1248 to an inheritance of the allodial estate of the Dukes of Andechs-Meranien, resulting as possible construction time of the castle, the period between 1177 and 1248th It is the time of the high Middle Ages, "the high period of castle construction and at the same time" the transitional period from Romanesque to Gothic, which became a dominant style from the second half of the 13th century. "

After the division of the estate, the castle was awarded to the castle counts Friedrich von Nürnberg and Friedrich von Truhendingen and shortly afterwards, around 1338, came into the possession of the Olamünden family.

Two years later, the Old Palace became the seat of a burggrave's office under the rule of the burgrave John of Nuremberg, who was responsible for an economic boom Bernecks. As the Old Castle was an official castle, the owners did not live there. Rather, they had their possessions administered by officials who would nowadays be called civil servants. In return, they were compensated for their services by the income from an associated castle property as a fief.

Between 1350 and 1357 (as already mentioned) was also the city survey, with the first proof of city charter dated 18 November 1357 dated.

In the years from 1406 to 1477 the castle was sold as a deposit to the brothers Johann and Arnold von Wallenrode. They renovated the Old Palace and expanded it to include a kennel, living rooms and a kitchen.

In 1477 it came then to a repurchase of the Mark and Burggrave Albrecht von Wirsberg. The newly built in the northeast of Veit of Wallenrode castle "Neuwallenrode" seemed to Albrecht due to the higher location a better seat. Therefore he moved in 1501 his office there and brought the not yet completed construction to an end.

For the last time there is a dating from 1536, in which the lower castle, the Old Castle, was mentioned. In the land register of Berneck it says:"the old castle of Berneck takes half the damage from the roofing - the chapels at the castle as well". It is therefore believed that the castle was in a dilapidated state from this year onwards.

A look at the Old Castle today (2013) shows that the corners of the 15-metre-high tower are mainly made of "Diabas fragments" and reinforced at the corners by hewn "sandstone cuboids", but parts of the moats, the ring wall and also existing windows can still be seen. In addition, in 1818 the building was extended by one floor and a tower clock was installed. Even today, it still beats every quarter of an hour and has developed into a local symbol of the city of Bad Berneck.