Guttenberg Castle

Archaeological findings date the origins of Guttenberg Castle to the first half of the 13th century. Its first documented mention occurred in 1393, when Archbishop Konrad II von Weinsberg of Mainz endowed a chapel nearby. The castle was a fief of the Bishops of Worms and belonged to the Lords of Weinsberg, who likely built it to secure customs revenues. In 1449, Hans the Rich von Gemmingen acquired the castle for 6000 Rhenish guilders, thus founding the Gemmingen-Guttenberg line, which remains the owner to this day. Under Dietrich von Gemmingen, the castle played a role in the Reformation in the 16th century. Despite numerous wars, including the Thirty Years' War and the War of the Palatine Succession, Guttenberg Castle always remained unscathed. In the 19th century, Wilhelm Hauff stayed here and immortalized the castle as “Schloss Thierberg” in his novella “Das Bild des Kaisers”.