Grubenhagen Castle, Medieval castle ruin in Vollrathsruhe, Germany

Grubenhagen Castle is a castle ruin in Vollrathsruhe featuring a roughly 10-meter-high stone tower built from fieldstone and brick with walls about 3.3 meters thick, surrounded by a water-filled moat. The remains display visible structural elements and foundation outlines that allow visitors to understand medieval building methods and defensive layouts.

The von Grube family founded the castle in the 13th century and extended it until the 15th century. The von Maltzan family then became lords of the castle and built an estate north of it. In the 19th century that estate replaced the castle as the manor house. By 1928 the estate attached to Schloß Grubenhagen covered about 352 hectares, with sheep farming and 236 sheep.

The name Schloß Grubenhagen, used for the village around the ruin, comes from the castle itself. The site is an old fief (altes Lehen) of the von Maltzan family, whose genealogical line Maltzahn-Grubenhagen was founded by August Christoph Freiherr von Maltzahn and his first wife Johanne von Ramin. The family kept the estate into the 20th century; the last official estate register of 1928 lists about 352 hectares, with sheep farming at its centre.

The site is best explored on foot, as you can view the entire complex with its walls and moat from outside. Wear sturdy shoes since the ground is uneven and paths around the ruin may be poorly surfaced.

The surviving 10-metre-high bergfried wall, 3.3 metres thick, is built of fieldstone and brick. The rest of the lowland castle, including its wide water-filled moat, survives only as terrain features that can be read on the spot from the geological base.