Berwartstein Castle

The first documentary mention of Berwartstein Castle dates back to 1152, when Emperor Frederick Barbarossa gifted it to Günther von Henneberg, the Bishop of Speyer. This suggests that the castle was originally part of the fortifications of the Salian and Hohenstaufen rulers. From 1201, the Lords of Berwartstein, a knightly family named after the castle, administered the complex as ministerial officials of Speyer. Due to predatory activities, the castle was besieged, captured, and destroyed in 1314 by troops from Strasbourg and Hagenau. After a swift reconstruction, it remained in the possession of the Berwartstein family until their lineage died out in 1345. Via the Lords of Weingarten and the Eckebrechte of Dürkheim, Berwartstein came into the possession of the Benedictine monastery of Weißenburg in 1347. In 1453, the monastery placed itself under the protection of the Elector Palatine. In 1480, Elector Philipp the Upright granted the castle as a hereditary fief to his marshal Hans von Trotha, known as “Hans Trapp.” Under his rule, the castle was further fortified.