Altenstein Castle () is a ruined castle in Altenstein (Markt Maroldsweisach) in the district of Haßberge in Lower Franconia, Germany. The family seat of the lords of Stein zu Altenstein, which died out in the 19th century, is located 40 kilometres north of the city of Bamberg and, since the end of the 20th century, has been managed by the district of Haßberge. The castle was renovated around the turn of the millennium. Location The ruins of the hill castle lie commandingly over the village of the same name on a ridge (ca. 452 metres above sea level (NN)) in the Haßberge hills between Ebern and Maroldsweisach. The castle hill rises about 150 metres above the Weisach valley. The elongated ridge on which Altenstein Castle stands is also the site of other fortifications. The Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection has categorized it with the monument serial number D-6-5830-0006. a medieval motte south and below the castle on the Galgenberg ("Gallows Hill"). About two kilometres south of the ruins on the eastern slopes there are two other heritage sites hidden in the forest and both called Altburg ("Old Castle"). Another four kilometres south is the large double castle of Lichtenstein on the side of the valley. The site of the Teufelsstein rock castle below Lichtenstein Castle is the possible family seat of the two lines of the lords of Stein. Above the hamlet of Eyrichshof are the remains of Rotenhan Castle, one of the few rock castles in Germany. History The castle was the seat of the lords of Stein zu Altenstein. The Steins split into two lines around 1200. The Stein von Lichtenstein ("Steins of Lichtenstein") had their seat at the castle of Lichtenstein. The origin of this family is thought to be the Teufelsstein, a rock castle that used to stand on a site below Lichtenstein Castle. The originally free knightly family soon had to become vassals of the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg. From the early 14th century the Altensteins only appear as vassals of Würzburg, occasionally of Bamberg, but also had fiefs of the abbeys of Banz and Langheim. The castle appears to be first mentioned in the sources, indirectly, in 1225. In one document at that time a Marquard Magnus de antiquo lapide is mentioned (i.e. a "Marquard the Great of Altenstein"). In 1231, the castle is first directly referred to as a castrum with an ecclesia