Lower Tüchersfeld Castle (Burgruine Niederntüchersfeld) was one of the two castles in the church village of Tüchersfeld in the region of Franconian Switzerland in Bavaria. The ruins of this spur castle are situated on a rock pinnacle in the centre of the village of Dorfes Tüchersfeld in the municipality of Pottenstein in the Upper Franconian county of Bayreuth. On the rock tower behind it are the remains of Upper Tüchersfeld Castle.
The castle was first built in the 13th century and mentioned in 1269. On 27 May 1262 the Bishop of Bamberg, Berthold of Leiningen, bought the castle.
In addenda to episcopal Urbarium B of 1348, the two castles at Tüchersfeld were first distinguished by name; the upper castle was the seat of a district or Amt established before 1323–27, the lower castle was a fief, owned by Groß of Trockau.
In 1430, the castle was destroyed in the Hussite wars and rebuilt by the fief holder, Groß. In 1525, the castle was razed during the Peasants' War, and, in 1636, it was finally destroyed in the Thirty Years' War. In 1691 it was designated in the official description as 'totally desolate'. Around 1700 a Jewish settlement was established in the remaining ruins and, in 1755, 44 Jews lived there. The Jewish settlement in the Lower Castle was destroyed by fire in 1758. the remains of the old buildings were included in the newly constructed buildings of 1758–1762,
In 1959, the remaining parts of the site, now called the 'Jew's Court' or Judenhof, were sold to private individuals. After the site was completely renovated in 1981 to 1983, the Franconian Switzerland Museum opened in 1985.
Of the old castle only a few wall remains and a rock tower have survived.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.