Kulmbach

Kulmbach lies beneath the Plassenburg, a castle above the Main valley and a residence of the Franconian Hohenzollerns. The burgraves of Nuremberg acquired the town and fortress in 1340. Trade along roads to Bamberg, Nuremberg and beyond supported weavers, dyers and silk embroiderers, while the castle became the seat of the principality of Kulmbach, ruled by the margraves of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.

Hussites sacked Kulmbach in 1430, and Saint Peter's Church was rebuilt afterwards. In 1553, during the Second Margrave War, enemies of Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades burned the town; the Plassenburg fell the following year. Margrave Georg Friedrich began rebuilding both town and fortress, but his successor moved the residence to Bayreuth in 1604. French and Bavarian forces occupied Kulmbach in 1806, and it passed to Bavaria in 1810.