Abenheim Castle

Abenheim Castle, also known as Dalberger Hof, is located in the Abenheim district of the city of Worms in Rheinhessen. It was a lowland castle that was built over by the Dalberg administrative court in 1556. Today it is privately owned.

In 932, Abenheim came into the possession of Fulda Monastery through a royal donation. At the beginning of the 13th century, the Counts of Leiningen were granted some Abenheim estates as a Vogt fief.

In 1275, the Abenheim estates passed as a dowry to the Counts of Nassau. In 1295 and again before 1362, they pledged Abenheim. At the beginning or middle of the 14th century, the remaining Abenheim lands and rights that Fulda Monastery still possessed fell to other noble families, such as the Counts of Sponheim. In 1358, Abenheim returned to Fulda Monastery through repurchase, although it continued to pledge the property in times of need. In 1405, the Counts of Katzenelnbogen were briefly granted Abenheim by the abbot of Fulda Monastery.

For the castle itself, documentary evidence can be provided from the first half of the 15th century, although it can be described more as a small residential and defensive complex than a castle.

In 1473, the knights Hans and Dietz von Wachenheim claimed that they had handed over their share (the gatehouse next to the gate and the stable next to the kitchen) to the knight Wolf II. Kämmerer, called von Dalberg, from the Dalberg family. In 1475, Wolf Kämmerer von Dalberg came into possession of the castle share of Count Reinhard von Westerburg, Lord of Westerburg and Schauenburg, who sold his property together with the estates for 100 guilders.

In 1476, the dean and chapter of St. Cyriacusstift in Neuhausen sold their castle share with "accessories" for 150 guilders to von Dalberg. Only through legal action did this share return to the possession of the Stift. Landgrave Hesso von Leiningen was named as the previous owner and defendant. In 1487, von Dalberg pledged the Abenheim estate to Elector Philipp von der Pfalz, with the Dalbergs continuing to increase their property and rights until they finally rose to become the local lords in the 16th century.

However, it remains unclear whether the Counts of Leiningen or the other local lords who named themselves after the place were the actual builders of Abenheim Castle. Since the 16th century, the Dalbergs leased the court and castle estate to tenants for an annual rent. It is also questionable whether the former castle had been destroyed when it was built over by the Dalberg administrative court in 1556.

Only a medieval cellar remains of the former castle. Nothing remains of a small outer bailey (forder Deil) and the gatehouse (porthüß) including kitchen and stable, which were mentioned in a document in 1473.