Freely accessible castle ruins with park, meadow area, benches, children's playground and an ice cream parlor nearby. The castle was restored in 1983.
The following texts are from the signs attached to the towers. I have added comments on rare terms in square brackets. (By the way, the signs also have a French and an English translation.)
east tower
The east tower marks the origin of the castle and is one of the oldest parts of the castle complex, which dates back to 1347, the so-called "Old House", a rectangular building measuring 17 x 14 meters and comprising four parallel rooms.
Attached to the east corner of this "Old House", with a diameter of 8 meters, it was smaller in diameter than the other three towers, which were built in a later phase, probably in the 15th century. In addition to the fighting stands, it housed a narrow dungeon in which, during renovations in 1983, the now cemented-in blind balls, the projectiles from the castle's torsion cannons, were found. [Note: Blide is a catapult.] In 1516/1519 the east tower was reinforced based on the model of the south tower and together with this formed the boundary of the new Palas building between the two towers.
South tower
In the years 1516-1519 this south tower and the east tower were completely rebuilt, with the 15th century south tower being demolished down to the ground floor. The lower fighting positions remained unchanged, but a new, modern gun emplacement with cannon ports was installed on the 2nd floor. The 3rd floor consisted of another room, but its function cannot be clearly determined. The whole thing was then surrounded by a new ashlar wall. Between the south and east towers, the main building of the castle, the Palas [= representative hall building], underwent major architectural changes between 1545 and 1554.
The portcullis at the main entrance was removed, the space gained was used to expand the residential building and new, large windows were also installed on the side facing the moat. These construction measures increased the quality of life considerably, but reduced the military value of the complex.
west tower
The increased use of cannons in the armies of the late Middle Ages and early modern times reduced the military value of castles, which is why they were gradually converted into palaces or palace-like buildings. This also applies to Bucherbach Castle under Philip II (1545 to 1555). His remodeling efforts amounted to the conversion of a "fortress" into a more residential building.
The west tower was demolished except for the ground floor and rebuilt with thinner walls, but retaining its fighting posts. With the establishment of a "summer hall" with large windows, an open fireplace and a balcony facing Rebenberg, the first floor lost its military function, but increased the quality of living immensely. It is here that Elisabeth von Lothringen is said to have translated French troubadour novels into German and is therefore regarded as the forerunner of the German prose novel.
north tower
During the first expansion of the castle, which was originally built as a "tower castle", it was built between 1326 and 1334 and connected with a ring-shaped defensive wall, which surrounded the multi-storey "old house". Like the other towers, it was multi-storey, had a diameter of 11.30 meters and a wall thickness of approx. 3.80 meters. The round interiors with a diameter of approx. 3.5 meters each had three fighting stands pointing in different directions, each offering space for two defenders. And had an open fireplace. Above that were the gun emplacements, from which you can see the east or could cover the west tower. A room served as the conclusion, the function of which cannot be determined due to a lack of more detailed source information. The defensive wall leading to the west tower was added to the north tower during the major expansion phase under Philip I without any further connection.