Erfenstein Castle

The exact founding date and builders of Erfenstein Castle are not definitively known, but it is presumed that the Counts of Leiningen, on whose lands it lay, were the constructors. The complex likely served to secure the extensive forest areas of the Leiningens. In 1272, a ministerialis named Bock von Erfenstein is first mentioned in a document, whose family inhabited the castle. Through inheritance and divisions, the castle repeatedly changed hands between the Leiningen-Hardenburg and Leiningen-Rixingen lines. From 1345, it was converted into a Ganerbenburg (a castle owned by several families). Following disputes among the co-owners, Erfenstein fell to the Counts of Sponheim in 1415 and, after their extinction, returned to Leiningen-Hardenburg.