Alsbach Castle
Description
Alsbach Castle was built around 1235 by Gottfried I von Bickenbach and called Bickenbach Castle. The Bickenbachs were a minor noble family from the Odenwald. This more-substantial structure was probably the successor to an earlier motte and bailey castle located on nearby Weiler Hill and was built to protect the family’s territorial interests after Lorsch Abbey became a subordinate of the Archbishopric of Mainz.
In 1463, the free city of Frankfurt, in retaliation for a robbery committed against one of the communal owners, overran the castle, plundered it and burnt it to the ground. It was quickly rebuilt. During the War of Succession of Landshut the Landgrave of Hessen, Wilhelm I, took the castle in 1504 without a fight, and it remained, thereafter, in Hessen hands.
During the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648), the castle was used by the local population as a place of refuge, though afterwards it was abandoned, fell into disrepair and was used as a source of building stones for other structures. It was not until the end of the 19th century that the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt secured the ruins, and after World War II, restoration began in earnest. The castle was then renamed Alsbacher Schloss.