Wegelnburg Castle
Encyclopedia
Schönau, Rhineland-Palatinate
Schönau is a village in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany on the French border. It has a population of roughly 600....
in the Palatinate Forest in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, near the border with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Its location is at a height of 572m, making it the highest ruined castle in the Palatinate Forest.
Wegelnburg was founded by the Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen
The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of German kings in the High Middle Ages, lasting from 1138 to 1254. Three of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1194 the Hohenstaufens also became Kings of Sicily...
s in the 12th or 13th century. It had to protect the border of the Hohenstaufens’ territory. In 1272 the castle was destroyed because the castellan had committed a breach of the peace. The von Wegelnburg family rebuilt the castle.
In 1330 the Wegelnburg was pawned to the Palatinate and in 1417 it was given to the Duchy of Zweibrücken through barter. Because of the Treaty of Nijmegen the castle was destroyed by French troops under General Monclar in 1679. Owned by the Palatinate and then by Bavaria, the Wegelnburg was given to Rhineland-Palatinate and administered by its Castles Administration since 1963. During the restoration from 1979 until 1982 the remains of the castle were saved and large amounts of rubble were removed.
Wegelnburg Castle was built up in three stages, as a lower, middle and upper castle. The remains can be partly assigned to the different parts. Therefore the stairs, which had been chiselled into the sandstone rock, the niches, various timber holes, another stair and some renewed arches can be assigned to the lower and middle castle.
The foundation walls on the sandstone rock are remarkable because of the smooth transition of the wall and the rock. Together with the rock caves they belong to the upper and middle castle.