Breitenstein Castle

The construction of Breitenstein Castle is dated to 1246, a period marked by political unrest following the deposition of Emperor Frederick II. Its first documented mention occurred in 1257 in connection with a knight from Kropsberg, who served as castellan. In 1265, this knight called himself Burkhard von Breitenstein. In 1291, after the death of King Rudolf of Habsburg, conflicts arose, during which the Counts of Sponheim erected a siege castle, later known as Nieder-Breitenstein, just a few meters south of the original complex. A royal court in Munich found Count Walram von Sponheim guilty of unauthorized construction in 1340, but Count Palatine Rudolf II prevented the cession of the castle.