Ruppertsecken Castle

Ruppertsecken Castle is the ruin of a hilltop castle at 498 m above sea level on the Schlossberg in the municipality of Ruppertsecken in the Donnersbergkreis of the Verbandsgemeinde Rockenhausen in Rhineland-Pfalz.

The castle is first mentioned in a document dated July 17, 1344, in the possession of Palatine Counts Ruprecht I and his nephew Ruprecht II, when the nearby Frauenstein Castle was transferred to Knight Hermann von Hohenfels as a hereditary fief. In a document dated June 1, 1401, the castle was pledged to Dieter Landschad von Steinach and his wife Irmgard for 4600 gold guilders. On March 30, 1406, the castle was sold to the Worms chamberlain Johann von Worms for 3000 guilders. Through inheritance, the castle came into the possession of Duke Stephan of Palatinate-Simmern-Zweibrücken on October 3, 1410. On September 16, 1444, the castle was transferred to Ludwig of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Veldenz.

On October 2, 1470, Palatine Count Friedrich I began a 14-day siege of the castle; it was plundered and demolished. Reconstruction was forbidden.

In 1794, the castle remains and the village came to the Electorate of Palatinate. As late as 1825, there was talk of "aspiring masonry". Over time, the villagers removed the stones for house building. Among other things, these were used to build the bell tower erected in the village in 1869. In 1889, a water tower in the form of a medieval keep was built on the castle grounds; it was rebuilt and renovated again in 1963.