Burgruine Schloß Starkenburg / Hessen 🚴‍♂️

Starkenburg Castle Ruins / Hesse 🚴‍♂️Starkenburg Castle is a hilltop castle located 295 m above sea level on the so-called Schlossberg above Heppenheim on the Bergstrasse. It gave its name to the former southern Hessian province of Starkenburg. The castle was built in 1065 to protect the Lorsch Monastery. Its original name was Burcheldon. The name Starkimberg was first mentioned in 1206. Throughout the monastery's eventful history, the castle has always offered refuge and protection to the monks. As the second-strongest fortress in the Electorate of Mainz, it covered the Mainz Bergstrasse. In 1765, the castle was abandoned and fell into disrepair.
On October 22, 1924, the dilapidated keep of Starkenburg Castle was blown up at 2:45 p.m. The demolition of the building, with walls up to three meters thick in the basement, was a major operation: 1,500 cubic meters of stone had to be blasted away. While the demolition of the original 28-meter-high keep was unavoidable due to its structural condition, the construction of the new keep at a different location, completed by 1930 (with the exception of the spire, which was only added in 1957), was an avoidable violation of historic preservation requirements. Instead of being placed in the center of the castle courtyard, the new building was placed at its western entrance to create a larger open space in the courtyard.Further information can be found at the links provided:
de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starkenburg_(Burg)Starkenburg Castle aerial photo:
heppenheim.de/heppenheim-erleben/sehenswuerdigkeiten/starkenburg

Beautiful view. The 2km ascent with cobblestones is hard (up to 15%) and therefore not something for everyone.