Scharfenstein Castle

Drebach, Germany, Germany

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Scharfenstein Castle overlooks Drebach in Germany's Ore Mountains, built around 1250 as a hilltop spur fortress likely by the Lords of Waldenburg to control silver mining areas and borderlands near Bohemia, later assuming guardianship over nearby towns like Thum after Greifenstein's destruction in the 15th century.

Passing to the Elector of Saxony in 1439 due to the Waldenburgs' debts, then bought by Heinrich von Einsiedel in 1492—who owned it until 1931—it suffered a 1921 fire with partial rebuilds before serving as a mining school, children's home, and juvenile center under state control post-1945.

Now managed by Saxony's state palaces as a museum since 1993, it features castle history exhibits, a mining labyrinth, the folk hero Karl Stülpner displays, and a bergfried tower for panoramic views.