Kronach

Kronach stands in the Franconian Forest beneath Rosenberg Fortress, guarding the northern edge of the prince-bishopric of Bamberg. The bishop received the town in 1122 and built a stone house and tower that became the core of the fortress. When Hussites besieged Kronach in 1430, the defenders held out but burned part of their own town to obstruct the attackers. Disputes over the destruction were settled by privileges granted to the Upper Town in 1439.

During the Reformation Rosenberg was enlarged as a Catholic stronghold facing Protestant Saxony, and Protestant inhabitants were eventually expelled. Swedish forces and their allies besieged Kronach from 1632 to 1634 without taking it; accounts celebrate the women who helped repel an assault. Plague struck the town during the war. Prussian artillery also failed to capture the fortress during the Seven Years' War. Secularisation ended Bamberg's rule in 1803, when Kronach passed to Bavaria.