Burgruine Zant

Burgruine Zant stands in Ursensollen and was established as the family seat of the Lords of Zant in the late twelfth century, though the place appears in records from 1130 and Luitpold de Zante is named in 1132 in the donation book of the Obermünster. Members of the Zant family recur in documents through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with Otto von Zant recorded in 1287 and again in 1319, Ulrich von Zant in 1326, and Wernher Zantner in 1340; after the mid fourteenth century the family moved their primary residence to a Rieden estate.

From the late fourteenth century the site passed to other occupants: Heinrich and Ulrich Liebenecker are recorded at Zant between 1398 and 1438. The Zant name reappears in the late fifteenth century, with Andres Zant noted in 1480 and Karl Zant recorded until 1499; the family retained ownership of the estate until 1570 and Zant-held tithes are documented through 1598. Philipp von Kemnath is recorded at Zant in 1579–1580 and Wilhelm Rummel of Lonnerstadt in 1585; the Rummel family maintained a presence until 1807, when the Podewils family succeeded them.

The former castle chapel was altered in 1684 when Freiherr Johann Joachim von Rummel converted it into the pilgrimage church of St. Josef. About 300 metres to the north lies the Burgstall of an earlier ringwork known as Anlage Zant. The above-ground preserved portion of the ruin is listed as a building monument under file number D-3-71-154-35, and the site is recorded as an archaeological medieval Burgstall under file number D-3-6636-0052.