The ruin of Madenburg Castle is one of the biggest and oldest castle complexes in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The castle was built on a cliff on the outskirts of the Palatinate Forest looking towards the Rhine rift valley. The ruin, which is surrounded by forest, lies at an elevation of 458 metres overlooking Eschbach.

Despite its strong defences, the castle was destroyed during the War of the Grand Alliance by the troops of Joseph de Montclar. The castle was never rebuilt.

Madenburg Castle

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Die Burg Landeck ist die Ruine einer Höhenburg südwestlich von Landau, bei Klingenmünster im Landkreis Südliche Weinstraße in Rheinland-Pfalz.

Geschichte
Wie bei der überwältigenden Mehrzahl der pfälzischen Burgen ist auch bei Burg Landeck das genaue Gründungsjahr unbekannt. Allgemein wird angenommen, dass die Burg als Nachfolgerin für die nahe gelegene, wohl in der zweiten Hälfte des 12. Jahrhunderts zerstörte Turmburg Walastede (heute „Schlössel“ genannt) errichtet wurde. Für diese Annahme gibt es jedoch ebenso wenig einen direkten Beweis wie für die weitere These, dass beide Burgen eine Schutzfunktion für das nahe gelegene Kloster Klingen(-münster) besessen hätten. Die sichtbaren baustilistischen Merkmale Landecks verweisen auf die Zeit um 1200.

Tatsächlich erwähnt und damit sicher belegt wird Landeck allerdings erst 1237 anlässlich der Teilung der Leininger Güter zwischen den Grafen Friedrich III. und Emich IV. von Leiningen. In dieser Teilung fiel die Burg mit allen Zubehörden an Emich IV., der eine eigene Linie von Leiningen-Landeck begründete.

Spätestens in der Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts war die Anlage ein Reichslehen, das sich im gemeinsamen Lehnsbesitz der Grafen von Zweibrücken und der Grafen von Leiningen befand. 1255 fing Emich IV. Boten aus Mainz und Worms, die ins Elsass zu einem Städtetag zogen, bei Hördt ab und verschleppte sie nach Landeck. Nach dem schnellen Aussterben der Seitenlinie Leiningen-Landeck im Jahr 1289/90 verlieh König Rudolf von Habsburg die rückgefallene Hälfte der Reichsburg 1290 an seinen Neffen, den elsässischen Landvogt Otto III. von Ochsenstein, während die andere Hälfte im Besitz der Grafen von Zweibrücken-Bitsch blieb.

Erst seit Beginn des 14. Jahrhunderts lassen sich mehr oder weniger berechtigte, auf lange Sicht aber erfolgreiche Versuche der Abtei Klingenmünster nachweisen, Landeck und umliegende Güter als ihr Eigentum auszugeben, was vor allem Auswirkungen auf den ochsensteinischen Anteil hatte. Wichtig sollten auch die seit der Jahrhundertmitte erkennbaren Ambitionen der Pfalzgrafen bei Rhein werden, die Burg in ihre Hand zu bringen, was 1358/66 mit dem Erwerb des Öffnungsrechts ihren Ausgang nahm. In ähnlicher Weise durch innerfamiliäre Streitigkeiten, Auseinandersetzungen der Gemeiner untereinander und nicht zuletzt durch finanzielle Schwierigkeiten bedingt, fiel 1405 ein weiterer Anteil an das Fürstbistum Speyer. Die erhaltenen Schriftquellen, darunter besonders wichtig die Burgfrieden, bezeugen die Versuche der nun drei Besitzerparteien – die Grafen von Zweibrücken-Bitsch, die Herren von Ochsenstein und das Fürstbistum Speyer –, ihre Burggemeinschaft nachhaltig zu regeln.

Obwohl Landeck Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts ausgebaut worden war, eroberten die Bauern des elsässischen Kolbenhaufen die Anlage im Pfälzischen Bauernkrieg 1525 und brannten sie aus. Die damals entstandenen Schäden wurden jedoch allem Anschein nach wieder behoben. Nach Aussterben der Herren von Ochsenstein 1485 und der Grafen von Zweibrücken-Bitsch-Lichtenberg 1570 konnten die pfälzischen Kurfürsten ihren Besitzanteil zunächst auf drei Viertel erhöhen und 1709 durch Tausch mit dem Fürstbistum Speyer schließlich vervollständigen. Bis zum Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts sollte Kurpfalz nunmehr Alleinbesitzer von Landeck bleiben, die inzwischen allerdings zerstört worden war. Wann diese Zerstörung durch französische Truppen geschah, ist entgegen der landläufigen Meinung, die das Jahr 1689 nennt, nicht eindeutig festzustellen, dürfte jedoch eher schon 1680 geschehen sein. Mit dem gesamten linksrheinischen Gebiet wurde die Region im ersten Koalitionskrieg zunächst von französischen Revolutionstruppen besetzt und nach 1798 an Frankreich angegliedert.

Aufgrund der auf dem Wiener Kongress (1815) getroffenen Vereinbarungen und einem Tauschvertrag mit Österreich kam die Region und damit auch Burg Landeck 1816 zum Königreich Bayern. Heute gehört die eindrucksvolle Burgruine zu den von der „Direktion Burgen, Schlösser, Altertümer Rheinland-Pfalz“ verwalteten Objekten. Besondere Verdienste um Erhalt und Förderung der Anlage hat sich der 1881 gegründete Landeckverein erworben.

Heutige Nutzung

Die Burgruine Landeck stellt heute ein beliebtes Ausflugsziel dar. Die Burgschänke wird das ganze Jahr außer an Heiligabend bewirtschaftet. Der Turm kann über eine innenliegende, hölzerne Wendeltreppe bestiegen werden und bietet von seinen Zinnen eine beeindruckende Aussicht. Im ersten Stock des Turms befindet sich eine kleine Ausstellung von Bodenfunden vom Burggelände. Auf dem Gelände der Burgruine Landeck werden jährlich Mittelaltermärkte unter der Bezeichnung „Landeckfest“ abgehalten.



Burg Landeck

Trifels Castle (German: Reichsburg Trifels) is a reconstructed medieval castle at an elevation of 500 m (1,600 ft) near the small town of Annweiler, in the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany. It is located high above the Queich valley within the Palatinate Forest on one peak of a red sandstone mountain split into three. Trifels Castle is on the peak of the Sonnenberg, and on both of the other two rock elevations there are castle ruins: Anebos Castle and Scharfenberg Castle (demotically called Münz).

Trifels Castle has been gradually restored since the 19th century and today replicas of the Imperial Regalia (Reichskleinodien) of the Holy Roman Empire are on display here. It is—together with Hambach Castle—one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The castle in Rhenish Franconia was first mentioned in a 1081 deed of donation, when it was held by a local noble Diemar, a relative of Archbishop Siegfried I of Mainz. From him Trifels passed to the Imperial Salian dynasty. Emperor Henry V in 1113 made it a Reichsburg (Imperial Castle), rejecting the inheritance claims raised by Archbishop Adalbert of Mainz. The archbishop, allied with Henry's opponent Lothair of Supplinburg, had to spend several years of imprisonment at Trifels.

Upon the death of Emperor Henry V in 1125, his nephew Duke Frederick II of Swabia made the castle a place of safekeeping for the Imperial Regalia of the Hohenstaufen emperors until in 1220 Frederick II of Hohenstaufen moved them to Waldburg Castle in Swabia.

Trifels Castle is also famous as the site where Richard the Lionheart, King of England was imprisoned after he was captured by Duke Leopold V of Austria near Vienna in December 1192 on his return from the Third Crusade. Handed over to Emperor Henry VI of Hohenstaufen, a period of three weeks of captivity at Trifels from 31 March to 19 April 1193 is well documented. According to one legend, Richard was found by the trobador Blondel de Nesle, who reported the king's location to his friends; in fact, Richard's location was not a secret.

Trifels Castle lost its importance with the Interregnum. After the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the castle was pledged several times. In 1330, it was mortgaged to the Electoral Palatinate. It finally fell to the Dukes of Palatinate-Simmern and Zweibrücken in 1410 and decayed after the Thirty Years' War. Deserted and derelict, the ruin served as a stone quarry, as a result of which the late-Romanesque residential building almost completely disappeared and the outer bailey for the most part.

From about 1840, the Wittelsbach kings of Bavaria had the castle rebuilt. After Ludwig I of Bavaria had reconstruction plans prepared by his court architect August von Voit already in 1851, Georg von Schacky made a reconstruction drawing in 1881 and the Trifels Association (founded in 1860) had carried out structural measures in 1882, in particular the erection of the great well arch, the Munich architect Rudolf Esterer designed a monumental rebuilding project following the model of south Italian Hohenstaufen castles, initiated by the Trifels Association and born by the cultural-political ideology of the Nazi epoch.

The Nazi era reconstruction in 1938-1942 and later reconstructions in 1946-1959 (residential building), 1960 (1st castellan's house), 1963-1966 (heightening of the keep), 1972-1978 (safeguarding and enclosing wall) and 1988-1989 (2nd castellan's house) utilized in part the preserved walls from the Middle Ages or those found by archaeological investigations in 1935-1937, but also in many cases rigorously ignored the original medieval findings and created essentially an architectural reinterpretation of the 20th century.

The present-day castle is in large parts not true to the medieæval original. It is characterized by a large well tower outside the ring wall, linked to the castle by a bridge. The surrounding rocky landscape is a popular venue for mountaineers.

Trifels Castle

Berwartstein Castle (German: Burg Berwartstein) is a castle in the Wasgau, the southern part of the Palatinate Forest in the state Rhineland-Palatinate in southwestern Germany. It was one of the rock castles that were part of defences of the Palatinate during the Middle Ages. This castle is noted in the publication Works of Preservation of Monuments of Rheinland-Pfalz, which was assembled and edited for the Ministry of Education and Culture. This states that the three prime examples of rock castles in the region are Drachenfels, Altdahn and Berwartstein, castles where the stairs, passages and rooms are carved out of the rock to form part of the accommodation essential to the defence of the castle. Although the Berwartstein appears more complete when compared to the ruins of neighbouring castles, it is only a restoration of the original rock castle. It is the only castle in the Palatinate that was rebuilt and re-inhabited after its demolition.

History

Origins
There is no definite record of the origins of the castle or its name. The name "Berwartstein Castle" is mentioned for the first time in a document dating from 1152, when the castle was granted by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to Bishop Günther of Speyer.

Occupation by robber barons
During the 13th century, feudal tenants, who carried the name "von Berwartstein" inhabited the castle, which they used as a base for raids in the manner of robber barons. The imperial cities of Strasbourg and Hagenau joined forces against the von Berwartsteins. Following several weeks of futile attacks against the castle, they succeeded in taking it in 1314, with the help of a traitor. A large amount of booty and about 30 prisoners were taken to Strasbourg. The knights of Berwartstein were permitted to buy the prisoners back for a large ransom. The knights of Berwartstein were forced to sell their castle to the brothers Ort and Ulrich von Weingarten. Four years later the castle became the property of Weissenburg Abbey.

Under Weissenburg Abbey
The monastery at Weissenburg placed the castle in stewardship and established a feudal system. This allowed for the dismissal of vassals who became too presumptuous. Thus the monastery held possession of the castle for some time. This could have continued indefinitely had the last steward of the castle (Erhard Wyler) not gone too far. When he began feuding with the knights of Drachenfels, the Elector of the Palatinate took the opportunity to bring the Berwartstein Castle under his control.

Hans von Trotha
Because of his dynastic ambitions, the Elector of the Palatinate wanted to bring all of the Weissenburg estate under his control. To accomplish this, in 1480 he ordered the knight, Hans von Trotha, who was Marshal and Commander in Chief of the Palatinate forces, to acquire to Berwartstein. In this way he could enlarge the property at a cost to the Monastery of Weissenburg. For the quarrelsome knight this was a pleasure to fulfil, since this gave him a chance to take personal revenge on the Abbot of Weissenburg. Years before, Abbot Heinrich von Homburg had imposed a church fine on his brother, Bishop Thilo.

As a starting point for this conquering expedition, this experienced warrior first renovated the castle to improve its appearance. He built strong ramparts and bastions as well as the outwork and tower called Little France (castle).

Abandonment (1591 - 1893)
After von Trotha's death, Berwartstein Castle was inherited by his son Christoph and, when he died, it went to his son-in-law, Friedrich von Fleckenstein and remained in the hands of this family for three generations. During this time, the castle was destroyed by fire in 1591, and, since there is no mention of any attacks, it is presumed that the castle was hit by lightning.

Even though the main sections of the castle were not destroyed by the fire, it stood empty and unused for many years. In the Peace of Westphalia (1648), Berwartstein received special mention, when it was granted to Baron Gerhard von Waldenburg, known as Schenkern, a favorite of Emperor Ferdinand III. Since he did not restore the castle, it fell into ruins.

New life
A certain Captain Bagienski purchased the castle in 1893. In 1922, it was sold to Aksel Faber of Copenhagen, and thus went into foreign ownership. Since he was seldom in Germany, he asked Alfons Wadlé to be his steward. Later on, Wadlé was able to purchase the castle.

The village of Erlenbach below the castle was completely destroyed during World War II, and its inhabitants sought shelter in the castle. After the war, the roof had gone as well as the woodwork around windows, doors, staircases and other furnishings. Since the castle was not financially supported, Alfons Wadlé went about the renovation himself. At first he was only able to do what was essential to protect the castle from the elements.

Berwartstein Castle

Altdahn Castle (German: Burg Altdahn) is a castle ruin in the Palatinate Forest, the German part of the Wasgau region. It is located near the town of Dahn in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It stands 337 metres (1,106 ft) above sea level (NN).

History

Altdahn was probably built in the early 13th century. Certainly in 1236 the castle was being run by Frederick of Dahn as a vassal (Lehnsmann) of the Bishop of Speyer who, at that time, was Conrad IV of Dahn and may well have been a relative. The subsequent history of the castle is characterized by many wars and frequent destruction, that was, time and again, followed by rebuilding.

Altdahn was first destroyed in 1363 in the course of a feud between the Dahns and the Fleckensteins. In the end a squire took possession of the castle and carried out temporary repairs. In 1372 it was destroyed again and the squire driven out. In 1406 the castle was destroyed in the War of the Four Lords, which played out from 1405 to 1408 especially in the Bliesgau, 40 kilometres to the west. In 1426 and 1438 the castle caught fire without being caused by any military action.

After two centuries of relative prosperity Altdahn suffered further damage during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48). And right at the start of the War of the Palatine Succession the castle was finally destroyed in 1689 by French troops under General Mélac.

On 11 May 1820 a rockfall occurred, that caused the majority of the remaining ruins to collapse.

Mendelssohn, the composer and artist, visited the ruins on 5 August 1844 in order to paint them. The originals are in Oxford, but copies may be seen in the museum, as can a medieval silver spoon engraved with the coat of arms of the lords of Dahn.

Description

On the ridge of the Dahn castle group, which run roughly from east-northeast to west-southwest, Altdahn Castle occupies the two largest, easternmost rock outcrops, which have a total length of about 100 metres (330 ft). Its access is in the northeast, where the gateway and a small, water-filled neck ditch have survived. The lower ward is dominated on the north side by a horseshoe-shaped turret (Geschützturm) and, on the south side, by another tower of similar design.

Other notable remains of the upper ward on the western rock outcrop that have survived, include the north wall of the palas and a watchtower that, from the remains of an oriel, indicate that it may well have been used as a garderobe tower. The southern part of the palas was destroyed in the rockslide of 1820. This also opened the remains of a round cavern, in the rock in the shape of an inverted cone, that has been identified as a cistern or dungeon. On the remains of the eastern side, rusticated ashlar stonework is visible.

The isolated eastern castle rock is accessible over a narrow gangway. It used to support a small tower.

Altdahn Castle

The rock castle of Neudahn, in the southwestern Palatine Forest in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, is located at the northern end of an elongated ridge near the town of Dahn. The heart of the castle is situated on one of the sandstone rock outcrops that are typical of the Dahner Felsenland region.

History

The name "Neudahn" ("New Dahn") is rather confusing, because the castle is older than Grafendahn Castle in the nearby group of three castles of Dahn, albeit more recent than Altdahn ("Old Dahn"). Its location enabled it to protect and block the old road running through the Wieslauter valley, the course of which is now used by the B 427 federal highway and the Wieslauter Railway.

The castle was probably built just before 1240 by order of the Bishop of Speyer, because from 1233 to 1236 the office was held by a certain Conrad IV of Dahn. The governing ministerialis was Henry of Dahn, who is also recorded as Henry Mursel of Kropsberg. He was probably granted the castle from the outset as a heritable fief. His second name, like other later heirs, indicates clearly that there were family ties with the South Palatinate – Kropsburg and Burrweiler.

The castles is first mentioned on 3 May 1285 as Burg Than, an assessment of the estate mentioned in the deed indicating that it must refer to Neudahn.

Within a hundred years of the castle being built, the Mursel family died out, and its possession passed to the related Altdahn line. Probably razed during the Four Lords' War of 1438 and then rebuilt, the site was again badly damaged during the German Peasants' War in 1525. Because, King Henry II of France stayed overnight at the castle in 1552, it must have been thoroughly renovated before then. After the last lord of Dahn, Ludwig II died in 1603 in his castle at Burrweiler, Neudahn was returned to the Prince-Bishopric of Speyer. From then on the castle was used by the episcopal Amtmann as his headquarters until French troops finally destroyed it in 1689 at the start of the War of the Palatine Succession.

Today the castle appears to visitors largely as it did in the renovation and extension phase in the period after 1525 and after the last destruction.

Safety and restoration measures took place in the 1970s. The site is managed by the Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz, Direktion Burgen, Schlösser, Altertümer, and, together with Berwartstein Castle, 10 kilometres away, is one of the best preserved castles in the southern Palatine Forest.

Neudahn Castle

Hambach Castle near the urban district Hambach of Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, is considered to be the symbol of the German democracy movement because of the Hambacher Fest which occurred here in 1832.

Hambach Castle is located on the mountain Schlossberg (literally translated "Castle mountain"; elevation: 325m) in the eastern outskirts of the Palatine Forest. The estate ruled both as a protection castle and as a robber baron castle over the trade roads and the northern route of the Anterior Palatinate section of the Way of St. James.

Archaeological finds prove that the area of Hambach Castle was used in late Roman times. In late Carolingian Dynasty times and Ottonian dynasty times a castle of refuge was built there. Portions remain in front of and under the outer ring wall.

Probably in the first half of the 11th century, a new castle was built inside the former estate. It got its name because of the surrounding magnificent sweet chestnut forests. There is little known about its early history; there are speculations without any proof that it was founded as an Imperial Castle (Reichsburg) or that Emperor Henry IV had started his Walk to Canossa here in 1076. The only thing certain is that between 1090 and 1104 bishop Johann I of Speyer signed over the estate together with Castle Meistersel to the Bishopric of Speyer, which stayed the owner to the end of the 18th century.

The big estate was said to be one of the most important facilities of the Bishopric of Speyer in the late Middle Ages. This is indicated by the many residencies of the bishops since 1180. Despite this the first "Burgmannen" primary were known as Imperial Ministeriales and not as commissionaires of the church, especially the first one, Burkhard of Kästenburg, who is provably in the imperial service from 1154 to 1186. His brother Trushard of Kästenburg, proven 1178–1201, had a brilliant career at the court of Henry VI.

The descendants of Trushard had no connection to the Kästenburg. Other houses of "Burgmannen" took place here, among them since 1256 the ministerial family Schnittlauch of Kästenburg, the Earls of Zweibrücken (1284) and the Earls of Veldenz (1311).

Especially during the 13th century, larger building projects took place. Nikolaus I was consecrated as Bishop of Speyer in the castle chapel on July 12, 1388. More construction was done at the end of the 14th century and in the second half of the 15th century by the bishops Nikolaus I and Matthias I. The castle was the home for the Episcopalian document archive at the end of the 14th century.

Later the importance of the Kästenburg declined, one reason being the erection of the new estate Hanhofen after 1414/20 (later Marientraut). In 1466 the Kästenburg was the property of the Bishopric of Speyer, which Prince-elector Friedrich I protected for Bishop Matthias. An inventory taken one or two years before shows the castle still decently equipped.

During the German Peasants' War in 1525 the Kästenburg was occupied and looted, but not destroyed, by the "Nußdorfer Bauernhaufen" (literally translated: Nußdorf peasant bunch). In 1552 it was conquered and burned down by troops of Margrave and mercenary-leader Albrecht Alkibiades of Brandenburg to whom a tribute of 150,000 gulden was denied. Bishop Marquard of Speyer, who was in office from 1560–81, only arranged a very provisional rebuilding of the residential buildings and made the ruin the seat of a forester.

The former fortress wasn't damaged during the Thirty Years' War, but during War of the Palatinian Succession in September 1688, French soldiers destroyed the erstwhile abandoned castle. It was once more provisionally restored from 1701 to 1703.

In 1797 the castle was declared to be French government property. In 1816 after the Congress of Vienna the ruin became the property of the Kingdom of Bavaria together with the complete "linksrheinische Pfalz" (literally translated: left-Rhine Palatinate). A short time later citizens of Neustadt gave the worthless estate to the Bavarian King Maximilian II as a "wedding present". Because of this, the castle is also called "Maxburg" in colloquial language. In 1844 Bavaria began to rebuild the castle in neo-gothic style, August von Voit had provided the plans.

In the context of the Hambacher Fest of 1832 the then ruined castle was the focal point of the discontent of the Palatinate people over the repressive measures of the Bavarian administration which had been in office since 1816. The administration had retracted important rights which had been given to the people by French Revolution troops (governing 1797/98-1815). Since the Hambacher Fest, Hambach Castle has been considered a symbol of democracy.

Before the 150th anniversary of the Hambacher Fest in 1982 the castle was completely restored for about 12 million DM (about 6 million €). During a further renovation period 2006-07 before the 175th anniversary in 2007, the castle was closed to visitation for one year. Today the national memorial is a museum and convention centre with about 200,000 visitors per year. During the whole year events and receptions of the federal state Rhineland-Palatinate, the District Bad Dürkheim and the city Neustadt an der Weinstraße take place here. A VIP guest in May 1982 was US President Ronald Reagan with his speech "an die Jugend der Welt" (to the youth of the world). Also Presidents of Germany mostly connect their inaugural visit in Rhineland-Palatinate with a visit to this historic site.

A mention of the "Maxburg" evokes a sense of affinity among students and academics: it is considered a stone symbol of freedom and fraternity especially among members of students' fraternities.

Since 1969 the castle has been the property of the - then newly created - District Bad Dürkheim. In 2002 it became part of a new charity: its owners are now the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Bezirksverband Pfalz, the District Bad Dürkheim and the city of Neustadt an der Weinstraße. The charity is supported financially by the Federal Republic of Germany.

Hambach Castle

Gräfenstein Castle (German: Burg Gräfenstein) is a ruined rock castle about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the village of Merzalben in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is in the county of Südwestpfalz within the Palatine Forest and is often called Merzalber Schloss ("Merzalben Castle"). It is built on a rock plateau 12 metres (39 ft) high at an elevation of 447 metres (1,467 ft) above sea level.

History

Gräfenstein Castle was built by the Saarbrücken counts, who had lost their fortress and were in need of a new one. Evidence for the exact date of the castle's building does not exist although the earliest record dates to a 1237 deed of partition by the counts of Leiningen. But from the castle's design and materials it can be deduced that it was built sometime between 1150 and 1200. Another clue is in the date of the restoration of the stone fortress, which took place in 1168, and coincides with first construction work on Gräfenstein Castle. The central element of the site, with its bergfried and palas probably dates to the 12th century and thus goes back to the Hohenstaufen era. The upper part of the castle was built on a rock shelf 12 metres high. The building's highlight is the peculiar seven-sided tower.

Possession of Gräfenstein was first given to the younger counts of the von Leiningen family. The House of Leiningen was related to the von Saarbrücken counts. The castle was built primarily for protection. It lies on the intersection of the Diocese of Worms, Speyer and Metz. The boundaries of these places were contiguous with that of Gräfenstein's, so the castle's main function was to maintain a hold on the uncertain borders. So was the protection of the surrounding forests and villages.

In 1317 the castle went into the possession of the collateral Leiningen-Dagsburg line. By 1367 they had to sell 7/8 of the estate to Prince Elector, Rupert I of the Palatinate. Through marriage, Gräfenstein went in 1421 to the Counts of Leiningen-Hardenburg. They had the castle expanded, particularly the lower ward.

The castle was first destroyed in 1525 during the German Peasants' War. Rebuilding work began in 1535 and, in 1540, the castle was sold by its owner, Count Palatine Johann von Simmern to the Count Palatine, Rupert, who used it from then on as his new residence and also introduced the Reformation locally. Rupert had been born in 1506 in Zweibrücken and died at Gräfenstein Castle on 28 July 1544.

Thereafter the castle continued to change hands, until in 1570 it was transferred, together with its associated villages, to Badenese ownership (Margraviate of Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach). In 1635, during the Thirty Years' War, the castle was razed by fire (due to "carelessness on the part of the imperial forces...") and became unusable for a long time. In 1771, when the rule of the Counts of Baden-Baden ended, ownership of the castle passed into the hands of the government of Baden-Durlach. They held the castle until the French Revolution. The castle had at this point reached the crest of its glory, and after that it fell into dereliction.

In spite of that the fortification is relatively well preserved. The first conservation measures on the ruins were carried out in 1909/10 and 1936/37. And from 1978 to 1986 the state of Rhineland-Palatinate had the ruins comprehensively restored at some cost.