Coburg Castle

Coburg Castle is one of the largest and most impressive fortifications in Germany. This castle in the fullest and provides a clear example of how a typical medieval castle looked like. Coburg Castle is beautifully situated above the Itz River in the German province of Bavaria. The town Coburg is located about 90 km south of Erfurt and about 100 km north of Nuremberg.

There is no specific information on exactly when this hill became home to the first fort erected prior to today's castle Coburg, but history states that during the 8th century a wooden castle was already built in this place. The first recorded information about the fort is from 1056.

Archaeological excavations in the territory of Coburg were found in the western courtyard of the castle’s old cemetery dating back to the 11th or 12th century. All major parts of the Castle Coburg were built before 1500, only the bastions were added later.

Coburg Castle impresses with its massive fort and is surrounded by three full firewalls located at different levels. All walls ranging from 1.2 to 6.5 m thick, the height of the three are about 11 to 12 meters.

The Coburg castle has 700 windows and 236 small gaps in the walls, which allow defensive protection to shoot the enemy while being protected from enemy arrows. Military power of the Castle Coburg reached its apogee during the 16th century.

In 1547 Duke Johann Ernst decided to construct a new more functional building just down the hill to the castle. As a result Ehrenburg palace was erected and became home to the Dukes Coburg until 1918.

One famous occupant of the castle, though not for long was Martin Luther, who remained in the castle Coburg from April to October in 1530. The chapel which was in the possession of Coburg was built in 1530 and it is known that Martin Luther was praying constantly in it during his stay in the castle.