Schloss Frauenstein, Renaissance castle in Frauenstein, Germany.

Schloss Frauenstein is a Renaissance castle below the ruined Frauenstein castle, consisting of two perpendicular wings. The wing facing the town is 33.5 metres long with nine window axes; the other has ten and abuts the castle wall. Both have three storeys, but the slope exposes only two from the raised courtyard. A round stair tower with a baroque hood and lantern rises at the inner corner.

Heinrich von Schönberg had the castle built between 1585 and 1588 by electoral master builder Hans Irmisch, after the family had bought the old castle in 1473 for 3,000 guilders. The abandoned hilltop castle then fell into ruin. In 1647 the indebted Schönbergs sold the castle to Elector Johann Georg I, who made it the seat of the Amt Frauenstein.

The main portal bears two coats of arms: the lion of the Schönberg family and the monk of the von Einsiedel family, with a figure of Cupid between them marking a marriage between the two houses. The building otherwise stays plain, and the museum that began in the gatehouse in 1900 later became the Gottfried Silbermann Museum, named after the organ builder whose workshop instrument was among its exhibits.

The castle can be viewed from the outside throughout the year, offering clear views of the Renaissance design and its position on the hillside. Visit in good weather to see the architectural details of the facade and tower most clearly.

From certain viewpoints, the castle appears shorter than it actually is because the hillside hides two of its three stories. This perspective trick created by the slope makes each angle of approach reveal the building differently.