Thierstein Castle was built in the early 14th century by Albrecht VI of Wildstein. Later it was moved to the hands of Nuremberg burgraves and the house of Hohenzollern. In 1553, during the Second Margrave War, Thierstein was occupied by Bohemian troops. In 1603 Margrave Georg Friedrich of Brandenburg ordered to abandon the castle and the construction of a new office building outside the village of Thierstein. Nevertheless, the most necessary repairs were still carried out at the Thierstein castle during the Thirty Years' War. The end of the Thierstein castle came in 1725, when it was destroyed by fire.
The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.