Neidenstein Castle

Neidenstein Castle, also known as Veste Neidenstein or Nydenstein, is a hillside castle located on the slope of a spur of the Galgenberg mountain, overlooking the Schwarzbach valley above the municipality of Neidenstein in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg.

The hilltop castle, whose oldest structural parts date back to the 13th century, was first mentioned in 1319 when it was an imperial fief of Friedrich von Venningen. In 1385, the castle remained an imperial fief of the Lords of Venningen, whose Venningen-Neidenstein line resided there. Siegfried von Venningen († 1393) and Jobst von Venningen († 1410) were Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order, Hans von Venningen († 1478) was Bishop of Basel, Siegfried III von Venningen († 1459) was Bishop of Speyer.

The castle was expanded in the 16th century and extended with the outer bailey. The wall paintings in the palas date from 1516, the "Herrenhaus" (manor house) with a stair tower in the outer bailey was built by Erasmus von Venningen in 1538, the oriel window on the palas dates from 1561, and the outer gate tower from 1569.

The Venningen-Neidenstein line died out in 1611, and the Venningen-Hilsbach line succeeded them. The last local lord living on site was Philipp von Venningen, who moved to the moated castle in Eichtersheim in 1667.

Towards the end of the 18th century, the complex, which had been spared from destruction until then, began to fall into disrepair. An oriel window from the eastern palas was removed and installed in the moated castle in Eichtersheim. In the 1890s, the roof of the western palas collapsed, and it has since remained a ruin. Around 1900, renovation work took place at the castle, in whose forecourt the local Catholic church had been built in 1880. During the work, which lasted from 1897 to 1903, large parts of the complex were restored, although the uppermost floor of the defensive tower was also removed. From 1960 onwards, the renovation of the castle continued.