Stauf Castle (Palatinate)


Stauf Castle is a ruined spur castle near the village of Stauf in the borough of Eisenberg in the county of Donnersbergkreis in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Location

Stauf Castle stands south of the village named after it on a hill ridge, 327.1 m high, which runs northwards above the valley of the Eisbach. It is accessible from Stauf on a woodland track.

History

The castle was probably built before 1000 AD and is mentioned as castellum Stoufenburc around 1012. It is thus the oldest recorded structure of its type in the Palatinate region.

High Middle Ages

Count Henry II of Sponheim-Bolanden bought the castle between 1378 and 1388. After the death of Count Henry II in 1393, the Barony of Stauf was bequeathed to the husband of his granddaughter, Count Philip I of Nassau-Saarbrücken. Until the end of the 18th century it remained together with the Barony of Kirchheim in the possession of the House of Nassau.
In 1525, during the German Peasants' War, the castle, which consisted of an outer bailey, a middle bailey and the inner bailey, was destroyed.
From 1871, the Historische Verein Rosenthal owned the ruin until it was transferred to the town of Eisenberg in June 2000.

Literature