Falkenstein Castle

Falkenstein Castle is the ruin of a medieval hilltop castle (Reichsburg) above the village of Falkenstein on the Donnersberg in Rhineland-Palatinate, the highest elevation in the Palatinate.

Falkenstein was first mentioned in a document in 1135 as the castle of the Lords of Falkenstein, a sideline of the Lords of Bolanden, in 1233 in the possession of Philipp I, Lord of Falkenstein, Imperial Chamberlain and castellan at Trifels, where the Imperial Regalia were kept. After the extinction of the Imperial Chamberlains of Münzenberg, Philipp I became Imperial Chamberlain, and in 1255 he inherited the Landvogtei in the Wetterau. Lich later became the center of the dominion of Philipp I of Falkenstein. Around 1500, Uhland I took over the castle rights and further expanded the castle. The descendants of Uhland I acquired Bertholdstein Castle near the town of Fehring in Styria (Austria) and subsequently settled there.

In 1647, Falkenstein was besieged, stormed, and razed by the French. In 1736, Falkenstein Castle and the County of Falkenstein came into the possession of the Imperial House of Habsburg. In 1794, it was again destroyed by the French during the Coalition Wars, and since then, Falkenstein Castle has been a ruin, which was partially restored starting in 1979.