View of Colmberg Castle

The castle Colmberg, also called castle Kolbenberg, is a spur on the 511 m high "Heuberg" in Altmühltal 35 meters above the market Colmberg in the district of Ansbach in Bavaria.

The history of the castle can only be deduced from the documents from the 13th century onwards; all claims about the period before that are purely speculative. The castle first appears explicitly in 1269 as being owned by the Counts of Truhendingen, who had the castle administered by bailiffs who exploited the lawless situation at the time by carrying out high-handed attacks. The oldest court records of the imperial city of Rothenburg attest to an almost endless chain of complaints about criminal offences committed by Colmberg officials before the local court after 1274, for example about unpaid debts, breached guarantees, trespassing, robbery, deprivation of liberty, theft and arson. Finally, in 1293, it was not the Truhendingen bailiff at the time who was outlawed, but the entire Colmberg castle. Because the Counts of Truhendingen were getting into increasing financial difficulties, they separated from this fortress with such a bad reputation, a documented robber baron castle. Colmberg was finally sold on July 13, 1318, together with the town of Leutershausen and the surrounding area, to the Burgrave Friedrich IV of Nuremberg for 6,200 pounds (Swabian) Haller Pfennig.Source: Wikipedia

Colmberg Castle sits enthroned on a 511-meter-high mountain spur above the Franconian town of Colmberg in Bavaria. Its history dates back to the 13th century, and it was long owned by the Hohenzollern family. Today, the well-preserved medieval complex houses a castle hotel with a restaurant known for its regional cuisine. The castle offers picturesque views of the surrounding countryside and is a popular starting point for hikes. The 15th-century castle chapel is also a popular venue for weddings.