Location: Weinheim, Baden-Württemberg Map
Constructed: 12th century
Windeck Castle is located in Weinheim, Baden-Württemberg region of Germany. Windeck Castle was constructed in the 12th century to defend nearby possessions of the Lorsch monastery. In 1674 the French troops of General Turenne captured the citadel, burned and looted it. After devastating campaign of the French king Louis XIV the military fortifications of the Windeck Castle were abandoned. The locals used the site as a quarry for damaged houses, churches and other structures instead. Today the castle is open to the public. Little remains from the original structures of Windeck Castle, but medieval structures including the main donjon from the 14th century is still well preserved and visible.
Windeck Castle, which is now only preserved as a ruin, is a popular excursion destination that can be reached both by car and via a footpath from Weinheim. The ascent takes about half an hour for the inexperienced and then continues over the Wachenburg into the mountain landscape of the Neckartal-Odenwald nature park.
The previous
castle was built around 1110 to protect the possessions of the
Lorsch Monastery. Since the Schlossberg belonged to the Michelstadt
Propstei, the castle was destroyed for the first time in 1114. The
castle, built on the remains of the previous building between 1125
and 1130, became the bone of contention between the Archbishop of
Mainz and the Electoral Palatinate, who were to share the monastery
property, with the end of the independence of the Lorsch Monastery
in 1232. Windeck first came to the Palatinate, but was then subject
to several changes between the Archdiocese of Mainz and the Count
Palatine before they finally came into possession of the castle in
1264 (according to other information, 1344). The castle was not a
feudal property of a noble family, but only secured and administered
by castle men. The places Oberflockenbach, Steinklingen,
Wünschmichelbach, Heiligkreuz, Rittenweier, Rippenweier (today all
districts of Weinheim) and the garbage were obliged to maintain the
castle and the crew.
On the Merian engraving of 1620
(published in 1645) the castle is still intact. It survived the
turmoil of the Thirty Years' War tolerably, but had to be repaired
in 1663.
The end of the castle came in 1674 when it was
sacked and destroyed by the French under General Turenne. The troops
of the French King Louis XIV made the castle unusable as a defense
system. It was subsequently considered uninhabitable. The ruins
served the Weinheim citizens as a quarry for the reconstruction of
their houses.
In 1803, Windeck Castle became the property of
the Baden state, which in 1900 sold it to the Count and Barons of
Berckheim, who already owned the castle in Weinheim. Count von
Berckheim had the masonry secured and partially restored. The city
of Weinheim has owned the castle since 1978 and carried out
extensive security measures.
Hardly anything has survived from the 12th century complex. The castle ruins (most of the parts probably from the 14th century) is a compact building with a gatehouse, the keep, probably also from the 14th century (the older keep is assumed to be in the middle of the complex), a former hall and an inner courtyard in which there is a beer garden in summer.
The 28 meter high keep can be climbed as a
lookout tower via 111 steps. From the castle courtyard near the
fountain, three stairs with a total of 50 steps lead first to a
terrace, from there to the battlement on the eastern shield wall and
finally to the tower. Inside, there are two offset spiral staircases
with 20 and 41 steps up to the viewing platform. The location of the
upper spiral staircase can be clearly seen from the outside on the
south-western side of the tower. To the right of the exit onto the
platform, a wide gap in the masonry forms an approx. 1.10 meter high
parapet and enables a view to the south. In the still preserved
higher masonry there are rectangular windows in four niches. At the
highest part of the tower, which has a diameter of 6.20 meters at
the top, a high flagpole is attached on the northwest side.
From the top of the keep you have a beautiful view of the
Wachenburg, the city of Weinheim, the Bergstrasse and the Rhine
Valley. On a clear day, the view extends to the Palatinate Forest
and Donnersberg.
In the floor of the keep is the fear hole,
the entrance to the eleven meter deep dungeon.