Frankenberg is home to two castles – the Vorderfrankenberg and the Hinterfrankenberg. Frankenberg Castle (Vorderfrankenberg), which still stands today, has a turbulent history.
The present ruins of Hinterfrankenberg are the older of the two castles. It was owned by the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg. Due to territorial power struggles, the Burgraves of Nuremberg built a new castle nearby (1254), which was also called Frankenberg.
Changes of ownership of both castles led to complicated power relations. It wasn't until 1803, after secularization, that both castles were unified.
At Easter 1554, Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades devastated Hinterfrankenberg. The castle has been in ruins ever since.
In the so-called Treaty of Blaubeuren, Ullrich von Hutten was granted 27,000 guilders as a compensation for manslaughter. It wasn't until 1520 that a partial payment was made, with which Hutten purchased Frankenberg Castle on the western slopes of the Steigerwald. This castle was occupied by Knight Ludwig the Younger Hutten (1493–1548), the founder of the Frankenberg line of the noble family. The von Huttens lived in Frankenberg Castle until 1783, when the line died out. The burial place of the von Huttens is located in the church of Reusch.
After the death of the last Hutten, the castle passed to the Barons of Pöllnitz, who lived in Frankenberg until 1979.