Schlüsselberg

The lords of Schlüsselberg were a high-noble Franconian family who from 1219 took the name of Burg Schlüsselberg near Waischenfeld. Eberhard I had the castle built after 1216 on the border of the Bamberg bishopric to secure the road from Waischenfeld to Pottenstein. His house assembled a lordship in the Franconian Jura, rivaling the prince-bishops of Bamberg.

Eberhard II founded Schlüsselau Abbey in 1280 with his son Conrad I. Another son, Ulrich, was elected bishop of Bamberg in 1318 though never installed and became bishop of Brixen in 1322.

Conrad II brought the family's territory to its height and founded Schlüsselfeld in 1336. He was mortally wounded at the siege of Burg Neideck in 1347, and the male line died out. The Treaty of Iphofen in 1349 divided the lands among the victors, with the chief shares going to the Nuremberg burgraves and the bishopric of Bamberg.