Gößweinstein Castle, Medieval hilltop castle in Gößweinstein, Germany.

Gößweinstein Castle is a stone fortress rising on a hilltop above the market town and the Wiesent river, featuring defensive towers and residential areas built over different periods. The grounds include a museum with medieval exhibits, a beer garden, and a terrace with views across the valley.

The castle was built in the Middle Ages and served early on as a fortress with military purposes, as shown by its use as a prison in 1076. In the 19th century, the structure underwent major renovation and was redesigned in the Neogothic style.

The castle's name probably comes from its founder, Count Gozwin, killed in 1065 after invading the Bishop of Würzburg's lands; "Goswinesteyn" is first recorded in 1076. Today the von Sohlern family's former seat houses a medieval museum, and a beer garden and terrace look over the Wiesent valley and the village.

The castle is reached only on foot; the climb from the basilica takes a good ten minutes. Any view down to the town is possible only after paying an entrance fee. The castle houses a medieval museum, a beer garden and a terrace overlooking the Wiesent valley.

Baron Edgar von Sohlern, who bought the castle in 1890, remodelled it in the Neogothic style; the chapel keeps Late Gothic statues from before that conversion. In 2013 Michael Freiherr von Sohlern left the castle to the Layritz family of Gößweinstein. The castle may also have served Richard Wagner as the model for the Grail castle in Parsifal.