medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
spur castle
A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where the spur joins the ...
in the German state of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
Esthal
Esthal is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
The municipality lies on a plateau ...
(county of
Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim () is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
Bad Dürkheim lies at the edge of Palatinate Forest on the German Win ...
When and by whose instigation Erfenstein was founded is not known for certain; however its builders were the Leiningen counts on whose land Erfenstein lay. The castle was probably established to protect the extensive tracts of forest owned by the House of Leiningen in the surrounding area.
In 1272 the first record of the castle mentions a '' ministerialis'', Bock of Erfenstein, who was a descendant of the lesser
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
in the Leiningen Land and who lived at the castle with his family. In 1439 specific rights were granted by deed to Siegfried Bock of Erfenstein, clearly a descendant of Bock, in the parish of
Dirmstein
Dirmstein ( pfl, Dermschdää) is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With its roughly 3,000 inhabitants, ...
.
The castle's ownership switched between the two lines of the House of Leiningen, the Leiningen-Hardenburg and Leiningen-Rixingen branches, as a result of inheritance and division. The Rixingen line held the castle together with the village of Esthal until 1345; thereafter it became a ''
Ganerbenburg
A ''Ganerbenburg'' (plural: ''Ganerbenburgen'') is a castle occupied and managed by several families or family lines at the same time. These families shared common areas of the castle including the courtyard, well, and chapel, whilst maintaining th ...
'' or castle owned by joint inheritance. After numerous disputes amongst the joint owners the castle went to the counts of Sponheim in 1415. When their family died out, ownership of the castle went back to the Leiningen-Hardenburgs.
The historic background to the legend is that both castles were always owned by different lords - to begin with the Spangenberg belonged to the prince-bishops of Speyer and Erfenstein, as mentioned, to the Leiningens - who were in competition with one another. In 1470 when their owners had subsequently changed, both castles were destroyed - first Erfenstein and then the Spangenberg - by their opponents during the Weißenburg Feud between Elector Frederick I of the Palatinate and his cousin, Duke Louis I of Palatinate-Zweibrücken. Erfenstein has since lain in
ruins
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
.
Description
Erfenstein consists of two sites: Old Erfenstein (''Alt-Erfenstein'') and New Erfenstein (''Neu-Erfenstein''). Of the older site, which lies above New Erfenstein, practically nothing has survived apart from the outer
neck ditch
A neck ditch (german: Halsgraben), sometimes called a throat ditch, at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry that is almost entirely filled with earth and - on an eight-metre-high rock – several rusticated ashlars of a once square ''
bergfried
''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under Germ ...
''.
The lower and more recent site is dominated by a very well preserved ''bergfried'', whose entrance lies high on the eastern side. Beside it are remains of a curtain wall. Right-angled sockets, which would have supported the ends of wooden beams, indicate that it had two or more internal floor levels. Old and New Erfenstein are separated from one another by a wide (inner) neck ditch. At the foot of the sandstone rock on which New Erfenstein stands there was also a
lower ward
An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary bui ...
(''Unterburg'') of which a few surviving elements can be seen.
Unlike Spangenberg Castle opposite, the site is in a poor condition, apart from the remnants of the lower ward. Measures have been proposed to secure the ruins in the area of the
upper ward
The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...
and the two neck ditches. Rapid deterioration of the site, especially the stump of the tower of the upper ward, is occurring, due to vegetation and the climbing of rocks and ruins by visitors.
Literature
* Jürgen Keddigkeit, Alexander Thon, Karl Scheurer Rolf Übel: ''Pfälzisches Burgenlexikon, Vol. 1: A-E''. 2nd edn., Institut für pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, 2003, , pp. 504–516.
* Alexander Thon (ed.): ''Wie Schwalbennester an den Felsen geklebt. Burgen in der Nordpfalz''. 1st edn., Schnell und Steiner, Regensburg, 2005, , pp. 44–47.
* Walter Herrmann: ''Auf rotem Fels - Ein Führer zu den schönsten Burgen der Pfalz und des elsässischen Wasgau''. DRW-Verlag, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, 2004, , pp. 50–51.
* Alexander Thon, „Es ist keine Kunde auf uns gekommen, von welchem Beherrscher des teutschen Reiches dieselbe erbaut worden sei …“. ''Anmerkungen zu Ermittlung und Bewertung der Ersterwähnung pfälzischer Burgen'', in: Mythos Staufer – in memoriam Dankwart Leistikow – Akten der 5. Landauer Staufertagung 1–3 July 2005, ed. by Volker Herzner u. Jürgen Krüger, Speyer, 2010, pp 127–139, hier pp. 128ff (about its first recorded mention in 1189/93). .