The castle ruins, old town and nearby Höllental give Lichtenberg three distinct highlights for a stay: views across the town and surrounding landscape, a historic townscape, and marked trails with named destinations in the valley. If you’d like to combine culture and nature, you can organize your choices around these themes and discover different sides of the destination.

Castle Ruins and the Town’s History

The ruins of Lichtenberg Castle stand on the Schlossberg above the town. From the castle tower, you can see across Lichtenberg and the surrounding woods and fields. Imperial troops burned down the castle in 1634 during the Thirty Years’ War; it has remained in ruins ever since. Here, an elevated location and a clearly dated chapter of the town’s history come together.

Old Town and Castle Festival

Lichtenberg’s old town includes a late-medieval market square and narrow historic lanes. The square and the narrower lanes create distinct spatial features. The layout of the town center complements the view from the castle: here, the focus is on the historic townscape; there, it is on views across the town and its surroundings. The late-medieval market square and the castle’s destruction in 1634 point to different periods in the town’s history.

Every year in early September, the Lichtenberg Castle Festival is celebrated on the Schlossberg and in the old town. It is organized in alternate years by Burgfreunde and the Burgkultur association; around 8,000 visitors attend over the festival weekend. If you’d like to plan your stay around the event, check the specific dates in advance.

Nearby: Höllental

Nearby Höllental offers numerous marked hiking trails with a combined length of more than 30 kilometers. This total refers to the trails together, not to a single route. Another viewpoint is “König David”: it is 170 meters above the valley floor, with views into the Selbitz Valley and across to Lichtenberg.

Also in Höllental is the larger-than-life wooden deer figure “Hirschsprung.” Its pose makes it look as though it is about to leap into the valley. The wooden bridges Jungfernsteg and Teufelssteg are also in the valley. The Teufelssteg is associated with a legend that the devil was supposedly seen there.

The viewpoints offer different directions of view: from the castle tower, you can see across Lichtenberg and the surrounding woods and fields; from König David, the view reaches into the Selbitz Valley and across to the town. The geographical distinction is also useful when planning: the castle and old town define Lichtenberg itself, while the trails, bridges and viewpoints mentioned are nearby in Höllental.

Discover more destinations: Geroldsgrün, Hof, Feilitzsch, Rehau, Helmbrechts, Schauenstein, Trogen, Köditz

Go to the main travel overview: Hof.