The location of this castle is unusual. Unlike most fortresses, it does not stand on a protective rock that is hardly accessible. The builders made up for this with an extremely massive construction and left behind an astonishing fortress.
Story, Camera, Editor : Bert Schwarz
© travel-magazine TV 2020
Typical Staufer style is the humpback ashlar masonry of the 12th century on the original preserved parts. Particularly worth seeing is the highest and best preserved keep in the Palatinate. From its 23-metre-high platform you can look far into the Rhine plain. This was also necessary because the castle was primarily intended to protect the Benedictine abbey in nearby Klingenmünster. Inside, a museum with finds and display boards provides information about life in the castle. Also impressive is the path over the 11 metre deep outer ditch into the Zwinger, in which invading enemies could be bombed down from the inner castle wall. The outer ring walls of the Zwinger were built in the 14th and 15th centuries, after the invention of the firearms that extended further.