Altenburg Castle, Bamberg

It appears on every old view of Bamberg: the round tower of the Altenburg, rising out of the woods west of the city. At about 400 metres above sea level, the castle is Bamberg's highest landmark. At the top you will find curtain walls, a gatehouse, a neo-Gothic hall and a view from the cathedral and Michelsberg far across Franconia, plus a story involving a poet, a heritage society and several brown bears.

History: bishops' castle, ruin, Romanticism

The Altenburg is first mentioned in 1109, when Bishop Otto gave it to the collegiate church of St James. From 1305 to 1553 it was the second residence of Bamberg's prince-bishops. In 1553, during the Second Margrave War, it was handed to the troops of Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades and destroyed.

In 1801 the physician Adalbert Friedrich Marcus bought it, and his friend E. T. A. Hoffmann, who lived in Bamberg from 1808 to 1813, liked to retreat to one of the wall towers. In 1818 the Society for the Preservation of the Altenburg was founded, Bavaria's first heritage society, which still looks after the castle. The present hall was only built in 1901/02 in Romantic style.

What to see

• Keep: A round tower in "butter churn" shape; its top storey was added in 1743, the onion-style cap in 1902.
• Fire basket: An iron basket on the tower is said to have been used for fire signals to the Giechburg 20 km away, though no written record confirms it.
• E. T. A. Hoffmann's cell: The writer covered its walls with caricatures of Bamberg citizens.
• Chapel and well: A chapel in a late Gothic vaulted room in the gatehouse, and a well about 30 metres deep.
• Bear pit: Bears were kept here until 1982; the head of the last one, "Poldi", is now in Bamberg's Natural History Museum.

Good to know

Only the keep and parts of the walls are medieval; much else is 19th and 20th-century rebuilding. There is a restaurant in the gatehouse annex.

Opening hours (as of October 2026)

According to the Altenburg society the castle grounds are open daily 9:00–19:00. Guided tours include selected rooms, the Hoffmann cell and a climb up the keep; tickets from the guide or online via AGIL Bamberg.

Getting there and circular walk

Footpaths lead up from the city centre, and there is parking below the castle. A circular walk of about 3 km through woods and meadows loops around the hill, manageable with an all-terrain pushchair. It starts about 20 metres below the lower car park.

Tripto tip

Allow at least two hours for the castle and the walk. Come in the late afternoon, when the old town lies in warm light below you, and combine Altenburg, Michelsberg and the cathedral into a hill walk.