Hohnstein Castle, Medieval castle ruins in Neustadt, Germany

Hohnstein Castle is a ruined hilltop fortress on the wooded, rocky Schloßberg (402.9 m) 1.1 km north of Neustadt/Harz in Thuringia. Its rough grey and brown masonry includes a tall square tower with a rectangular window opening, a shorter wall section holding a wooden staircase in an open timber frame, and a lower wall pierced by two dark arched openings and topped with broken stonework. Stone steps descend at the far left.

The castle was first mentioned in 1202, though newer research on its Romanesque masonry dates the original structure to the mid-12th century. It was the seat of the Honstein-Ilfeld counts, whose line split in 1315 and who lost the castle in the Flegler War of 1412. The Counts of Stolberg bought it in the early 15th century and rebuilt it as a Renaissance palace with an artillery tower. Imperial troops burned it in 1627.

The counts of Ilfeld took the castle in the mid-1170s and called themselves Counts of Hohnstein, using the family name Elger; the modest Ilburg near Ilfeld was probably abandoned then. The ruins are checkpoint no. 98 of the Harzer Wandernadel, stamped by the café just beyond the gateway.

Marked hiking trails lead from Neustadt up to the ruins, and the walk generally takes around 30 minutes. The inn below the castle walls is a good stopping point before or after exploring the site.

The castle ruins are checkpoint No. 98 in the Harzer Wandernadel stamp system, with the stamp point by the cafe just beyond the gateway. An iron staircase leads onto a ruined tower, from which the view reaches across the Harz to the Kyffhäuser. The site can be visited without a guide.