If you climb up the hills on the eastern outskirts of Thaleischweiler-Fröschen from the Schwarzbach valley, you will soon reach an extraordinary castle complex: the stone castle. A mighty round tower with a diameter of more than 13 meters towers above the partially restored Salian-Staufen castle ruins. Similar tower structures can only be found in central Germany.
The stone castle was built during the reign of the Salian emperors, around 1024-1125. The stone castle, which can only be admired as a ruin, with its mighty sandstone blocks at the confluence of the Schwarzbach and Rodalb, is proof of how the Salian Emperor Konrad II pushed back the dukes and church in their special powers.
If you climb up the hills on the eastern outskirts of Thaleischweiler-Fröschen from the Schwarzbach valley, you will soon reach an extraordinary castle complex: the stone castle. A mighty round tower with a diameter of more than 13 meters towers above the partially restored Salian-Staufen castle ruins. Similar tower structures can only be found in central Germany. Guided tours possible by appointment.
Nice destination. Also easy to reach from the P&R Biebermühle car park. Via the wooden ramp through the entrance gate, also accessible for mountain bikers.
The castle complex has the shape of an iron, the tip of which points to the south; the length is 70 meters, the width is about 46 meters. The 1.80 to 2.50 meter wide enclosing wall consists of hewn sandstone blocks, some of which are supplemented by hump blocks. The upper castle, situated on a sandstone rock, is separated from the lower castle by a rocky outcrop, which also contains the cistern.
A bailey was west of the castle complex outside the ring wall. It stretched along the entire western side of the ditch, even a few meters further south.
In addition to farm buildings and rooms presumably used as guard rooms, the lower castle also contained the entrance to the castle. It consisted of a gate 2.50 meters wide and 3.15 meters high, secured by a drawbridge and a moat.
The upper castle is accessible through a passage carved into the rock. It housed the residential buildings, i.e. the palace, kitchen, toilet facilities, the armory and a mighty round tower that dominates the entire castle complex. With an inner diameter of 8.50 meters and 2.50 meter thick walls, it has an outer diameter of 13.5 metres. This tower probably served as a keep, but could also have been a residential tower due to its large diameter. In the north, the upper castle is protected by a broken shield wall, which was probably damaged in the 12th century. Its western half was rebuilt during the second half of this century, while the eastern part of the wall dates from the 11th century.
Story The exact time when the castle was founded is not known. Excavation finds point to signs of settlement as early as the early Stone Age and the Hallstatt period.
According to the masonry of the existing remains of the wall, the foundation of the castle took place around the year 1100. The builders were probably the Counts of Leiningen. A Roman villa about a kilometer away may have served as a source of building material for the late Salian castle complex.
The massive round tower was built between 1125 and 1166, i.e. later than the castle. With its Salian-Staufen building elements, it is one of the largest in the Rhineland-Palatinate area of the time. Just a few years later a fire destroyed the castle; it could be one of the three Saarbrücken castles that Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa had razed in 1168 next to Saarbrücken Castle. In a document from 1237, the castle is said to have already been destroyed and was not rebuilt.
From the 13th to the 18th century, the castle ruins changed hands several times. The counts of Leiningen-Dagsburg, Zweibrücken-Bitsch, Leiningen-Hardenburg are listed, from 1564 the estate of the counts of Leiningen-Hardenburg-Dagsberg, designated as a deserted settlement, and from 1570 Hanau-Lichtenberg.
In the 19th century the ruins were used as a quarry and completely destroyed. The stones removed were used to build houses in the surrounding communities and, in 1875, to build the Pirmasens-Nord (Biebermühle) train station and the railway line. The ruin is currently state-owned and administered by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Mainz.
Excavations, reconstruction and finds In 1896/97, Mehlis carried out the first excavations, but had to stop the work due to a lack of funds.
Under the supervision of the Office for Pre- and Early History, Speyer, excavation work was carried out by the doctor L.A. Hoffmann after the Second World War in 1956/57. This awakened public interest in the castle, which at that time was just a rubble dump overgrown with trees and forest plants.
Excavation work began in the spring of 1968, and in 1973 the “Steinenschloss Castle Association” was founded. Today, the home club of Thaleischweiler-Fröschen oversees the excavations and work on the facility. In the meantime, the enclosing wall and palace area including toilet facilities have been renovated, the gate system of the lower castle has been reconstructed and the walls of some farm buildings have been made visible again. The tower, uncovered from 1985, was built up to a height of 10 meters from 1989/90 with stone blocks up to 1 m long and 55 cm high.
The finds salvaged from the construction and fire debris of the ruins range from ceramic discs and game pieces made of sandstone or deer antlers to tools and weapon parts made of iron to door handles and keys. Gilded bronze decorative fittings also came to light; plus a double-headed eagle made of gilded bronze, probably also a decorative fitting. A stone work piece with a round-arched slit window was also recovered. A shell-like landmark was discovered during the excavation of the western perimeter.
The extensive restoration and exposure work that has already taken place gives you an idea of what the former castle looked like.
The Steinenschloss castle ruins, also known as Atzenstein, Biebermühler Schloss, Steiner Schloss, are located in the Thaleischweiler-Fröschen district in the southwest Palatinate, above the confluence of the Schwarzbach and the Rodalb.
The castle ruins of Steinenschloss, also called Atzenstein, Biebermühler Schloss, Steiner Schloss, are located in the district of Thaleischweiler-Fröschen in the southwest Palatinate, above the confluence of the Schwarzbach and the Rodalb. Very interesting castle ruins.
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