Leonrod Castle
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| Leonrod Castle | |
|---|---|
Ruine Leonrod or Burg Lewenrode | |
| Dietenhofen-Leonrod | |
 Outlying tower of Leonrod castle ruins | |
| Site information | |
| Type | lowland castle, water castle |
| Code | DE-BY |
| Condition | curtain walls, bergfried |
| Location | |
  Leonrod Castle  Leonrod Castle | |
| Coordinates | 49°24′17″N 10°39′54″E / 49.4046°N 10.6649°E |
| Height | 350 m above sea level (NN) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1200 to 1300 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | nobility |
Leonrod Castle (German: Ruine Leonrod), also called Lewenrode Castle, is a ruined water castle on a manmade lake in the Bibert valley on the edge of the parish of Leonrod in the market town of Dietenhofen in Ansbach county in the German state of Bavaria.
The water castle was built in the 13th century as the family seat and Ganerbenburg of the lords of Leonrod, who were descended from the lords of Buttendorf, in order to protect an important road link to the city of Nuremberg. The castle was first mentioned in 1235 with a Rudolf miles de Lewenrode.
In the 14th and 16th centuries structural changes were made to the castle. The castle survived the Thirty Years' War unscathed, but shortly afterwards, in 1651, it burned down as a result of negligence - attempts to burn off vegetation in the moat got out of hand - and it was never rebuilt. In the 17th and 18th century a hunting lodge was built. The castle is owned today by a community of heirs that go back to the aristocratic line that died out in 1951.
One of the members of the nobile family was Franz Leopold, Baron of Leonrod, who was Bishop of Eichstätt from 1867 to 1905 and is one of the most important bishops of this diocese.
