The Kauzenburg is the ruin of a hilltop castle in Bad Kreuznach in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Kauzenburg was the residence of the front county of Sponheim. The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1206, in which King Philip of Swabia forbade the construction of a castle. From 1206 to 1230 the first castle was built by Count Gottfried III. († 1218) and Johann I of Sponheim († 1266).
In 1417 the castle was divided between the Counts of Sponheim and the Elector and Count Palatine Ludwig III. 1437 was followed by another division under the Heidelberg Count Palatine Ludwig IV, Friedrich III. von Veldenz and the Margrave of Baden. In 1444 Stefan von Pfalz-Simmern-Zweibrücken followed as heir to the Veldenz share. In the Palatinate War between 1450 and 1470, the Margrave lost his share. Elector Philip expanded the castle. In 1503 Baden became a co-owner again.
Source: Wikipedia
In 1620 the Spanish Marquis Spinola conquered Kreuznach and the castle, which he fortified until 1632. In 1632, during the Thirty Years' War, the Swedish king conquered the castle. In 1635 the imperial troops took over the town and castle. In 1639, the French under General Duc Henri II d'Orléans-Longueville (1595-1663) recaptured the castle and in 1641 the Imperials under Gil de Haes took over the fortress.
After the Peace of Westphalia, the castle fell to Baden and the Palatinate. For the first time, the castle was referred to as "Veste Kauzenburg". The French under General Louis-François de Boufflers (1644-1711) conquered the castle in 1688, blew it up and burned down the building.