Castle Gräfenstein was originally built by the
Saarbrücken counts as a replacement for a previously destroyed stone
fortress already existent. The exact origin date is not known, but
based on the structural components, a period between 1150 and 1200 can be
supposed when one considers the restoration of the stone fortress as the
earliest date of the castle's construction (1168). The upper castle, or
keep, was built on a 12 meter high shelf of rock, and has a unique seven
sided high tower. The Castle is well preserved. From atop the tower platform
one has a good view over it, it's lands, and far parts of the Palatinate
forest.
It was first granted in possession
to the
younger line of the von Leininger counts, who were related and in service to
the counts von Saarbrucken. The
location of the castle
explains it's main function: It lies in the direct intersection of the
Diocese of Worms, Speyer and Metz. The borders of Grafenstein's dominions
overlapped the borders of all the above. Thus their major task was in the
protection of the uncertain borders plus the surrounding forests and
villages.
The first documentary mention of Grafenstein
takes place in 1237 during the estate division of the von Leininger brothers
Friedrich III. and Emich IV. According to the document, Friedrich III
receives the "castrum Grebinstein" along with the villages Rodalben,
Merzalben and Thaleischweiler.
The Counts von
Leiningen transferred the administration of the castle and accompanying
lands to an official, designated as a "Viztum" or "governor in place of" who
took control of the castle. The extensive southern lower castle was built in
1250. In the following years castle rulers appointed by the Leiningers had
taken the name of the castle and are mentioned, for in 1275 there appears in
documentation a Dancrad, (or Dancret) von "Greuensten".
During the estate
division in 1317 between Friedrich V. and Gottfried von Leiningen, the
castle goes to Friedrich V. von Leiningen-Dagsburg. The Leiningens were not
at all pleased with the incomes generated by the castle and office of
Gräfenstein, and permanent money difficulties forced many mortgagings on
parts of the castle and it's dominion rights.
By 1345 the castle is already mortgaged several
times, and by1367, 7/8ths of the ownership is held by Cure prince Ruprecht I
in lieu of debt
settlement.. Cure Palatinate strove in the following years with all
diligence to acquire the eighth share, which remained yet in other hands,
and to permanently secure for itself the important "opening rights" of the
Castle. The Cure Palatinate, just as the counts of Leiningen, regarded the
castle as an exceedingly prime estate, and as such
didn't wish to struggle over it, so Ruprecht therefore granted his shares of
the castle on lien successively to the Counts von Sponheim (1371), Hanemann
von Sickingen (1393), and the MarkCounts von Baden (1420). From there it did
not take long for the castle to return to the Leiningers. In 1421, it was
given to Count Emich VI von Leiningen-Hardenburg as a dowry on the occasion
of his marriage to the daughter of Bernhards von Baden.
This Leiningen family
branch possessed the dominion of the castle until 1535.They expanded and
reinforced the northern lower castle as well as the stables and gate
concern. Nevertheless, the Alsace was an almost unrelenting field of
conquest, and they lost control in the farmer war, 1525. During the farmer
war the castle was conquered with little resistance by the Alsacian farmer
army. It was then looted, reduced to a heap and set on fire.
At the death of Emich VII von
Leiningen-Hartenburg in 1535, Grafenstein passed into the possession of
Palatinate Count Johannes von Simmern and in the care of official office
administrators. He then sells it five years later for the sum of 9000 guldens to
Palatinate count Duke Ruprecht of the Zweibrucken-Veldenzer line.
Starting in 1540, Ruprecht extravagantly restored and expanded
it, spending
the exorbitant amount of 5172 guldens on construction. He then proclaimed it
as his master seat. It would not stay so for long.
After Ruprecht's death in 1544 it was
administered by Duke Wolfgang von Zweibrucken in trust for Ruprechts
children, but from then until the next owner it was basically an "empty
room"
Between 1560 and 1570, the castle and office of
Gräfenstein was in the exclusive possession of the Mark Count von
Baden-Baden, who took the name "von Grafenstein". After the extinction of
his line in 1771 it passed to the government
of Baden-Durlach, with which it remained until the French revolution. In the
thirty-year war, the castle is supposed to have been burned down by the
carelessness of the Imperial troops garrisoned there. From then on, it
decayed to ruins.
I
n
1909/10 it is administered by the town of Merzalben and first restorations
are undertaken in 1936/37. Newer restorations originated in the years
1985/86, which saved the ruin from further decay with the promotional help
of the Rhineland-Palatinate. The local inhabitants of the area have now
named it the "Merzalber Schloss". This is one prime castle to add to your
"to visit list".
View from the top of the tower
Back to Legendary
Castles of the Palatinate
