Zwernitz Castle

Wonsees, Germany

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Zwernitz Castle is a medieval fortress perched on a narrow dolomite rock in Wonsees, Germany, first documented in 1156 as the ancestral seat of the Walpoten family of Upper Franconia, with its Romanesque keep and tithe barn dating to around 1200.

Acquired by the Hohenzollern family in 1338, it was expanded in the 16th century with half-timbered lower castle buildings and later served as a margravial hunting lodge and watchtower in a landscape used for centuries by local rulers.​ Integrated into the Sanspareil Rock Garden from 1744 under Margrave Frederick of Bayreuth and his wife Wilhelmine, it provided a dramatic backdrop amid beech groves and rock formations, evolving from a defensive site to a scenic element in an English-style landscape park.

Today, as a protected monument managed by Bavaria's palace administration, it houses exhibitions on its history, margravial hunting traditions, and the rock garden's development, offering panoramic views of Franconian Switzerland from the 34.5-meter tower, though open seasonally except Mondays.​