Schlüsselstein Castle

Schlüsselstein Castle
Burgstall am Kreuzberg
Ebermannstadt
The site of the main castle
Schlüsselstein Castle
Coordinates	49°46′25″N 11°11′55″E / 49.773477°N 11.198662°E / 49.773477; 11.198662Coordinates: 49°46′25″N 11°11′55″E / 49.773477°N 11.198662°E / 49.773477; 11.198662
Type	hill castle, spur castle
Code	DE-BY
Height	489.6 m above sea level (NN)
Site information
Condition	burgstall (no above-ground ruins)
Site history
Built	probably during the second half of the 12th century
Garrison information
Occupants	Unknown

Schlüsselstein Castle was a castle and the seat of a noble family, probably dating to the High Middle Ages, the remains of which lie above the town of Ebermannstadt in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim in the south German state of Bavaria. The site is known locally as Burgstall Schlüsselstein.

The burgstall is freely accessible and is used as a viewing point.

The spur castle is located in the western part of the Franconian Switzerland-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park on a rocky, southwest-facing hill spur of the Kreuzberg, jutting out into the Wiesent valley at a height of 489.6 m above sea level (NN). It is about 1300 metres southeast of the parish church of Saint Nicholas in Ebermannstadt and about 12 kilometres northeast of the town of Forchheim.

Near the site of Schlüsselstein Castle are several other castles: Dietrichstein to the south, the former Wolkenstein Castle to the southeast, a possible castle site to the north near the hamlet of Rothenbühl, a burgstall near the cemetery in Niederfellendorf, an element of a fortification from the early medieval period on the Hummerstein over Gasseldorf and motte castles in the area of the sports field in Ebermannstadt and in Rüssenbach.

Within line of sight of the levelled castle of Schlüsselstein lay Reifenberg Castle, on the site of which is the Vexier Chapel, the unresearched burgstall above Ebermannstadt on the opposite side of the valley;Feuerstein Castle and Schloss Greifenstein.