Frankenstein Castle is a medieval fortification on a
spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...
above the village of
Frankenstein, Rhineland-Palatinate in the
Palatinate Forest
The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a List of landscapes in Rhineland-Palatinate, low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatina ...
in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. Its name derives from the local House of Frankenstein.
History
The name first appeared in a document of 1146 mentioning the free nobleman (
Edelfrei) Helenger of Frankenstein. But the beginning of the castle is assumed to be at an earlier date because the erection of a defensive tower around 1100 is reported in various documents.
The tower belonged to nearby
Limburg Abbey in charge of security on the road to
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...
,
Dürkheim and
Worms
The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms.
Content
The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
. In 1205, the monastery commissioned
the counts of
Leiningen with this task. The counts had the tower expanded to a castle in the beginning of the 13th. century.
From 1204 to 1231, documents mention the knights Marquard, Friedrich and Helenger von Frankenstein as administrators in charge of the castle. Around 1390 Frankenstein Castle became a joint heritage castle when Limburg Abbey
pledged half of the castle to the Lords of
Einselthum. A part of this pledge was taken over by the counts of
Nassau -Saarbrücken and Leiningen-Hardenburg in the beginning of the 15th. century.
In the second half of the 15th. century the castle was damaged in the struggles between Prince-elector
Frederick I and Count Palatine
Ludwig I of Zweibrücken. The castle suffered further damage, presumably in 1512, when the Count of Nassau conquered it on orders of emperor
Maximilian I. During the
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt () was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It was Europe's largest and most widespread popular uprising befor ...
the castle was destroyed and was considered uninhabitable as of 1560. Nevertheless, it served military purposes because of its strategic position.
In the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
the Spanish General
Ambrosio Spinola
Ambrogio Spinola Doria, 1st Marquess of Los Balbases and 1st Duke of Sesto (1569 – 25 September 1630) was an Italian military leader and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general and won a number of important battles. ...
captured the castle. In the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
it was used to accommodate French troops. It is confirmed that these troops still used the castle chapel for mass in 1703.
In 1706, the
Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...
took possession of the Nassau-Saarbrücken share of the castle.
After the Palatinate had become part of Bavaria, the ruins of the castle were secured in 1883–84. Another upgrading took place in 1938–39.
Today the castle is owned by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. In the 1970s and 1980s some parts of the castle were restored and foundations of a previously unknown
shield wall were unearthed.
References
Further reading
* Jochen Goetze, Werner Richner: ''Burgen in der Pfalz''. 1. Edition. Edition Braus, Heidelberg 1992, .
* Walter Herrmann: ''Auf rotem Fels''. Braun, Karlsruhe 2004. .
* Jürgen Keddigkeit: „Frankenstein“. Pfälzisches Burgenlexikon. Vol. 2. F–H, Kaiserslautern 2002, p. 115–129,
* Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Burgen, Schlösser, Altertümer Rheinland-Pfalz: ''Burg Frankenstein''. Koblenz 2003 (= Staatliche Burgen, Schlösser und Altertümer in Rheinland-Pfalz, Heft 7).
* Wolfgang Reininger: ''Wahrhaftige Abbildung derjenigen Städte Schlösser und Flecken welche Ambrosius Spinola in der Churpfalz am Rhein eingenommen im Jahr 1620 und 1621''.
* Alexander Thon: ''„Wie Schwalben Nester an den Felsen geklebt …“ Burgen in der Nordpfalz''. Verlag Schnell und Steiner, Regensburg 2005, , p. 54–59.
External links
Burg Frankenstein on the web page of Frankenstein*
{{Authority control
Castles in Rhineland-Palatinate
Buildings and structures in Kaiserslautern (district)