Vorderburg, Medieval castle in Schlitz, Germany

The Vorderburg was the main castle of Schlitz, first documented in the 13th century. Its Romanesque keep, with foundations from before 1181, now houses the town's festival hall. The three-storey east wing was rebuilt in 1565 for Johann Eustach von Schlitz, and the west wing was added around 1600 under Wilhelm Balthasar von Schlitz. A wooden fountain house with a wooden wheel mechanism stands in the courtyard.

The Lords of Schlitz received the castle as a fief from Fulda Abbey in 1116, after it had previously belonged to the Counts of Ziegenhain. This connection to the abbey shaped the area's development for several centuries.

The Gräflich-Görtzische Verwaltung occupies the ground floor of the west wing and keeps a local history museum there. The tower carries a carillon of 26 bells, donated by Count Otto Hartmann von Schlitz, who intended it to serve international understanding; folk songs of different nations ring out at 3 pm and 5 pm.

The tower's 26-bell carillon, donated by Count Otto Hartmann von Schlitz, plays folk songs of different nations at 3 PM and 5 PM. The tower stands in the northwestern part of Schlitz's old town, within the medieval wall circuit. The west wing's ground floor holds the Gräflich-Görtzische administration and a local history museum.

The wooden fountain house in the courtyard dates from around 1600, built under Wilhelm Balthasar von Schlitz, and its wooden wheel mechanism survives with it. The late Gothic portal of the demolished stair tower now stands at the garden exit of the "Vorderburger Türmchen".