Randeck Castle

Randeck Castle, also known as Randegg, is the ruin of a hilltop castle on the Schlossberg (263 m above sea level) slightly west of the wine-growing village of Mannweiler-Cölln on the Alsenz in the Donnersbergkreis, Rhineland-Palatinate. It was the ancestral seat of the Lords of Randeck.

The castle was probably built in the 12th century. The royal citizen Heinrich von Randeck was first mentioned in a document in 1202. He was probably a grandson of Ulrich von Wartenberg. He was succeeded in 1231 by his son Gottfried I von Randeck. Gottfried's grandson in 1298, Dietrich von Randeck. Another grandson in 1311, Georg von Randeck. Eberhard von Randeck († 1372), cathedral dean and elected Bishop of Speyer, also came from here.

The castle was granted by Emperor Ferdinand III to the Teutonic Knight Hans Ludwig von Lewenstein in 1649. After the Lewensteins died out, the castle fell to the Mainz Chancellor Nikolaus Georg Reigersberg in 1668. During the Palatinate War of Succession, the castle was quickly stormed and blown up by the French in 1690. After that, however, a few buildings were made habitable again. It was reported in 1844 that the castle was in private ownership, demolished and the materials reused.

Today, the castle, of which remains of the curtain wall, a corner outwork, the flanking towers and the foundations of the keep are still preserved, is owned by the Cultural-Historical Association Mannweiler-Cölln.