The aforementioned
Westburg, first recorded in 1350, was built to replace the older
Ostburg, which no longer met the requirements for a defensive fortification. Its builders and owners were the knights of
Sparneck.
House of Sparneck For centuries the lords of Sparneck ruled over a territory, which corresponded roughly to the former district of
Münchberg. Waldstein Castle was an integral part of the estate of this once powerful family. The most famous member on the Waldstein was
Rüdiger von Sparneck (ca. 1300-1364/68), who in 1336 was elected
count palatine of
Eger. When the King of Bohemia was crowned as
Emperor Charles IV, the centre of power of the
Holy Roman Empire moved within easy reach of the Sparnecks and Waldstein Castle played an important role in the power structure of the western
Egerland and its surrounding regions. This time is considered the heyday of the lords of Sparneck; and Rüdiger, who had become more powerful, awarded
Münchberg the
town rights of
Nuremberg on 13 July 1364 . His son Hans I of Sparneck was appointed to the chapter of
Bamberg on 28 April 1352. Amongst other things, he
enfeoffed the Waldstein to Konrad of
Neuberg. He succeeded, however, together with his brothers Erhard (1364–1417), Frederick I (1364–1415) and Pabo II (1364–1373) to assume the fief of Waldstein from the emperor.
Destruction by the Swabian League in 1523 In the middle of the 15th century, many once powerful men operated in a manner which was later referred to a
robber baronetcy, in order to keep their estates and if possible to expand them.
Thomas von Absberg was particularly noted for this and, around 1500, had terrorized the whole of
Franconia. He kidnapped
traders on several occasions and demanded a large ransom for their release. On 24 June 1520 he attacked a group of travellers on the
Hahnenkamm. Joachim, Count of
Oettingen, who was with the group, was so badly wounded in the melee that, on 6 July, he died of his injuries. This event was reported to the
Swabian League and to
Charles V, who had just been named the "elected" German Emperor; he promptly placed the
imperial ban on the
Absberg family. Finally, in May 1521, Absberg attacked a group of returnees from the
Reichstag in
Worms on the Knittling high road. Hans Lamparter of Greiffenstein (the imperial spokesman) and Johann Lucas, who handled financial transactions on behalf of the emperor fell into his hands. After several stops, the prisoners were brought to the
Waldstein, the most secure fortress in the whole Fichtelgebirge, and which belonged to Wolf and Christopher of Sparneck. In January 1523, after a year and 38 days in captivity, the prisoners succeeded with "the help of God", to escape and reported at Nuremberg that the Sparnecks had helped the Absbergs. On 1 June, a powerful army, comprising 10,000
infantry, 1,000 riders, 100
rifles, and 33
cannon with 900 pounds of
gunpowder was deployed. On 11 July the troops reached Waldstein Castle and razed it down to its foundations. The castle fell into ruin and was never rebuilt by the Sparnecks. The last of the family line died in 1744 in
Wunsiedel.
Woodcuts by Hans Wandereisen from the 19th century On a
woodcut by
war correspondent, Hans Wandereisen, the castle is shown high above the surrounding area. Judging by the number of floors it is rather exaggerated, yet the ruins still stand on an impressive rocky plateau today. Around the spur the forest is cleared, allowing a view of the troops belonging to the Federation. In the original document, published by Baron von Reizenstein, it talks about a ('sheep shed'). This can be seen as a wooden house. If the path is followed, on which a rider and barrels of
gunpowder are depicted, uphill is the
outer ward, of which is one side of the castle gate still survives. The castle is well fortified on all sides and only at the back can a simple
palisade be seen which exploit the natural rock formation. In the left half of the castle, a stone cottage can be seen, which was used as a warehouse, according to Schwarz. The
inner ward consisted of a
palace, a
gatehouse, a
battlement with
bartizan (on the woodcut in the centre of the castle and oversized) and a quadratic
keep. Access to the inner ward was protected by a drawbridge, which is not visible on the woodcut. Several investigations, including by Karl Dietel, support this hypothesis, however.
War files of 1523 Transcription: Waldstein, a castle belonging to the Sparnecks, where the prisoners were held, who escaped by themselves with the help of the Almighty: On the same day, Waldstein Castle, which belonged to the brothers Christopher and Georg von Sparneck, in which the prisoners, namely Lamparter and Johann Baumgärtner were kept and escaped, is razed by Christoph von
Freyburg, a gentleman, appointed as
Hauptmann to the city of Augsburg, and the prison blown up with gunpowder and wrecked. This castle is a death pit and was built at a wild, remote spot in a forest. There was nothing else there to be found. (The Sparnecks fled before the approaching troops, and took with them what they could carry)
Watchtower in the Spanish War of Succession After its destruction in 1523, the castle was forgotten. Not until the
War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), was it used again, this time as a store, the
gatehouse being re-roofed and acting as a
watchtower. The red tiles used for the roof gave rise to its name of the
Red Castle, a term first coined by the headmaster of Hof Grammar School, Helfrecht, in 1795 when he published his first work on the castle. ==The castle today ==