At the site of the present castle, earlier Slavic settlement which have lasted until the early 12th century is assumed. Sometime during the 12th century the Cheb region authorized Counts of Vohburg and is joined to the North-Bavarian Mark. The Vohburgs also probably built the first stone castle in Cheb, which is documented archaeologically. Significant person in the history of the castle is Emperor Frederick I Barbarosa (1125-26 to 1190). He included the castle among a group of so-called Kaiserpfalz, who visited with the court during the periodic inspection tours of the German empire. The Cheb Kaiserpfalz hosted emperors until 1265/1266 when came for a time a part of the Bohemian Kingdom (definitively in 1322).
Fig.: The Cheb Castle in 1790
The political importance of Cheb lasted even later, but the castle was conceived in 1394 in the city walls and gradually ceased to be used as a fortification unit. Later, he was only basic maintained. After the Thirty Years War, the whole town turned into a Baroque fortress. During the invasion of the French in 1742, the building was destroyed and then gradually fell into disrepair until today. Attention of geologist attracted mainly the prismatic Black Tower. It is built of basalt blocks, which come from the famous "Minivolcano" of Komorní hůrka.
Fig.: The Cheb Castle in 1875
The bedrock of the Cheb Castle is built by phyllites. They are fine-grained, highly micaceous, shale rocks with a strong tectonic violation. They are considerably quartziferous, with frequent quartz lenses and veins. Jointing is conditioned by foliation, resulting in a plate or splinter shape fragments. Phyllites are often affected by the intense and deep weathering, which started in before Tertiary period. Cheb phyllites have their origin in the Paleozoic sediments on the ocean floor. Sediments are old about half a billion years; the crystalline schists were converted during the Variscan orogeny caused by collision of two large continents - Laurasia and Gondwana - before about 320 million years ago. On the rocky base, irregular layers of Tertiary clays and sands of Vildštejn-Fm. are preserved
Fig.: The Cheb Castle today