Altdahn Castle () is a castle ruin in the

Palatinate Forest The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a List of landscapes in Rhineland-Palatinate, low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatina ...

, the German part of the

Wasgau The Wasgau (, ) is a France, Franco-Germany, German Mountain range, hill range in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the French departments of France, departments of Bas-Rhin and Moselle (department), Moselle. It is formed from the south ...

region. It is located near the town of

Dahn Dahn () is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Palatinate Forest, approximately 15 km southeast of Pirmasens, and 25 km west of Landau. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemei ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It stands above sea level (NN).

Location

The

rock castle A rock castle () is a type of medieval castle that directly incorporates natural rock outcrops into its defences to such an extent that the rock formations define the structure of the castle. Topographically, rock castles are classified as hill ...

of Altdahn belongs to the group of castles at Dahn, which also includes Grafendahn and Tanstein. Although the three castles are sited next to one another on a low, rocky ridge, they were not built at the same time. A similar type of castle arrangement is also found e. g. in the nearby French

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

in the upper

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

where there is a cluster of three castles at Husseren-les-Châteaux. Other sights nearby include the castle of Neudahn and the natural rock formation of Jungfernsprung.

History

Altdahn was probably built in the early 13th century. Certainly in 1236 the castle was being run by Frederick of Dahn as a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

(''

Lehnsmann A ''Lehnsmann'' (plural: ''Lehnsleute'' or ''Lehnsmänner'') or ''Lehnsnehmer'' (also spelt ''Lehens-'') was a nobleman in the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries, who, as a liegeman was obliged to render service, goods in kind and loyalty to ...

'') of the

Bishop of Speyer The Bishop of Speyer is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer, which is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Bamberg.

who, at that time, was Conrad IV of Dahn and may well have been a relative. The subsequent history of the castle is characterized by many wars and frequent destruction, that was, time and again, followed by rebuilding. Wappendahn

Altdahn was first destroyed in 1363 in the course of a feud between the Dahns and the Fleckensteins. In the end a

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour. Terminology ''Squire'' ...

took possession of the castle and carried out temporary repairs. In 1372 it was destroyed again and the squire driven out. In 1406 the castle was destroyed in the War of the Four Lords, which played out from 1405 to 1408 especially in the

Bliesgau The Bliesgau is a region in the state of Saarland in the south-west of Germany and borders with France. It is named after the River Blies, which is a tributary to the Saar. Blieskastel is the principal town of the district. Other towns in the area ...

, 40 kilometres to the west. In 1426 and 1438 the castle caught fire without being caused by any military action. After two centuries of relative prosperity Altdahn suffered further damage during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1618–48). And right at the start of the

War of the Palatine Succession The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between France and the Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial possessions in the Americas, India, and West Africa. Relat ...

the castle was finally destroyed in 1689 by French troops under General Mélac. On 11 May 1820 a rockfall occurred, that caused the majority of the remaining ruins to collapse.

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

, the composer and artist, visited the ruins on 5 August 1844 in order to paint them. The originals are in Oxford, but copies may be seen in the museum,Burgmuseum des Burgenvereins Dahn e. V. as can a medieval silver spoon engraved with the coat of arms of the lords of Dahn.

Description

On the ridge of the Dahn castle group, which run roughly from east-northeast to west-southwest, Altdahn Castle occupies the two largest, easternmost rock outcrops, which have a total length of about . Its access is in the northeast, where the gateway and a small, water-filled

neck ditch A neck ditch (), sometimes called a throat ditch,
at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry

lower ward An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary bui ...

is dominated on the north side by a horseshoe-shaped turret (''Geschützturm'') and, on the south side, by another tower of similar design. Other notable remains of the

upper ward The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...

on the western rock outcrop that have survived, include the north wall of the ''

palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval '' Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson ...

'' and a

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

that, from the remains of an oriel, indicate that it may well have been used as a

garderobe Garderobe is a historic term for a room in a medieval castle. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives as its first meaning a store-room for valuables, but also acknowledges "by extension, a private room, a bed-chamber; also a privy". The word der ...

tower. The southern part of the palas was destroyed in the rockslide of 1820. This also opened the remains of a round cavern, in the rock in the shape of an inverted cone, that has been identified as a

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

. On the remains of the eastern side,

rusticated ashlar image:Palazzo medici riccardi, bugnato 01.JPG, Two different styles of rustication in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence; smooth-faced above and rough-faced below Rustication is a range of masonry techniques used in classical architecture g ...

stonework is visible. The isolated eastern castle rock is accessible over a narrow gangway. It used to support a small tower. Burg Altdahn - Dahn 01.jpg, View from south Altdahn-22-Palas-2015-gje.jpg, View of the surviving northern wall of the ''palas'' and tower Altdahn_südturm.jpg, The South Tower and lifting wheel Tanstein_altdahn.jpg, View of Altdahn from Tanstein looking over Grafendahn Altdahn-32-Nordturm-2015-gje.jpg, The North Tower

Conservation measures

In 1877 the first conservation work was carried out by the Dahn Conservation Society (''Dahner Verschönerungsverein'') under the

Bavarian government Bavaria, one of the states of Germany, has a multiparty system dominated by the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). Bavaria has long been a bastion of conservative politics in Germany, with the Christian Social Union having won every electio ...

. In 1936, during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, restoration work was restarted. After an interruption caused by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

they continued from 1960 to the present day. In 2007, cracks were confirmed on a 1,100 ton block of

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

on the castle. If this were to break, a third of the castle would be destroyed.

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

s placed sensors against the rock in order to observe further changes. Using

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end that provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

s on the ground, the rock was secured, but these measures were very expensive and time-consuming.

Die Rheinpfalz ''Die Rheinpfalz'' () is a German–language regional newspaper based in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The paper is one of the leading newspapers which serve the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History and profile ''Die Rheinpfalz'' was first published ...

, 25. April 2007 The all clear was given in June 2008, because the sensors did not pick up any further movement of the rock. The electronic sensors were removed and replaced with manually readable "rock spies" (''Felsspione''). The rock will be closely watched for a further two years.

, 6 June 2007

References

Literature

* * Stefan Grathoff: ''Die Dahner Burgen. Alt-Dahn – Grafendahn – Tanstein.'' Führungsheft 21. Edition Burgen, Schlösser, Altertümer Rheinland Pfalz. Schnell und Steiner, Regensburg, 2003, . * Walter Herrmann: ''Auf rotem Fels. Ein Führer zu den schönsten Burgen der Pfalz und des elsässischen Wasgau''. DRW-Verlag Weinbrenner, Braun, Karlsruhe, 2004, . * Elena Rey: ''Burgenführer Pfalz''. Superior, Kaiserslautern 2003, . * Günter Stein: ''Burgen und Schlösser in der Pfalz. Ein Handbuch''. Weidlich, Frankfurt 1976, . * Alexander Thon, Peter Pohlit: ''Grafendahn''. In: Jürgen Keddigkeit (ed.): ''Pfälzisches Burgenlexikon''. Beiträge zur pfälzischen Geschichte Bd. 12/2, Institut für Pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde, Kaiserslautern, 2002, , pp. 213–223. * Alexander Thon (ed.): ''...wie eine gebannte, unnahbare Zauberburg. Burgen in der Südpfalz''. 2nd edition. Schnell und Steiner, Regensburg, 2005, , pp. 18–25.

External links

Dahner Felsenland: ''Altdahn–Grafendahn–Tanstein''
* {{Authority control Landmarks in Germany Castles in Rhineland-Palatinate Rock castles Ruined castles in Germany