Trippstadt Castle

In 1767, Trippstadt Castle was completed under the direction of architect Sigmund Jacob Haeckher. The builders were Franz Karl Freiherr von Hacke, Electoral Palatinate Chief Forester of the Wilenstein dominion, and his wife Amönia Freiin von Sturmfeder. A relief above the main entrance commemorates the builders with the year 1766 and their alliance coat of arms. The castle experienced a technical innovation on April 17, 1776, when physicist Johann Jakob Hemmer installed the first lightning rod in the Palatinate here. During the French Revolution, parts of the castle suffered destruction on July 13, 1794, leaving only the ground floor habitable. After an Alsatian change of ownership in 1803, Imperial Councillor Ludwig von Gienanth acquired the entire Trippstadt domain in 1833. In 1865, the castle passed to the Bavarian state, which established a forestry office in 1885 and rebuilt the damaged part in 1888.