{{Infobox building , name = Sponheim Castle , native_name = ''Burg Sponheim'' , image = File:Ruine der Burg Sponheim bei Kreuznach (inproved) JC Scheuren.JPG , caption = J. C. Scheuren, Ruins of Sponheim Castle, 1834 , map_type = , coordinates = {{coord, 49, 49, 53.5, N, 7, 42, 53, E, type:landmark_region:DE , location_town =

Burgsponheim Burgsponheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Rüdesheim, ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) 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 ...

, location_country =

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, architect = , landlord = Counts of Sponheim , engineer = , completion_date = 12th century , date_demolished = , cost = , structural_system = Rough-hewn masonry , owner = , style =

Spur castle A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where the spur joins the ...

, size = Sponheim Castle (german: Burg Sponheim) is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

ruin in

on the edge of the

Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...

mountain range in

. From the 12th century it was the original residence of the Counts of Sponheim. Significant portions of the castle remain standing.

Site

The castle stands on a crag, approximately 250 meters long, around which the Ellerbach stream, a tributary of the Nahe, flows on the south and east sides. The ruin is on the peak of the crag, which is roughly 150 meters high.

History

The castle was probably already built in the 11th century and is first mentioned in two documents of 1127. In the 12th century it was extended and became the residence of the Counts of Sponheim. Upon the partition of the county in the early 13th century, the castle lost its importance, becoming the seat of comital ''

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minist ...

''. The existence of a castle

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common typ ...

is documented in an

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...

dated 1300. When the ruling male line of the Rhenish branch of the

House of Sponheim The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a medieval German noble family, which originated in Rhenish Franconia. They were immediate Counts of Sponheim until 1437 and Dukes of Carinthia from 1122 until 1269. Its cadet branches ruled in the Imperia ...

became extinct in 1437, the castle became a joint jurisdiction of the

Margraves of Baden The Margraviate of Baden (german: Markgrafschaft Baden) was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Spread along the east side of the Upper Rhine River in southwestern Germany, it was named a margraviate in 1112 and existed until 1535, ...

and the Counts of Veldenz, whose territories were inherited by Count Palatine Frederick I of Simmern in 1444 and held by the

House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken The House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of Sweden from 1654 to 1720. By this point it had splintered into several different houses. The Royal House of Sweden was represented by the br ...

. In the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

the castle was besieged by

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

troops under

Ambrogio Spinola Ambrogio Spinola Doria, 1st Marquess of Los Balbases and 1st Duke of Sesto (1569-25 September 1630) was an Italian ''condottiero'' and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general and won a number of important battles. He i ...

in 1620, which may have caused some destruction.

Layout

Within a ring wall, the castle comprised a residential section, a round tower, and a strongly fortified rectangular

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

, provided for habitation purposes with privy, enlarged windows, and

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the desig ...

s. The keep was constructed of rough-hewn stone and dates roughly to the mid-12th century. Other towers with rough-hewn masonry are found only south of the River Nahe.

Sources

* Köhl, Stefan: "Burg Sponheim", in ''Burgen und Schlösser'' 1992 volume 1, pp. 6–19

External links

Burg Sponheim at burgenwelt.de

Sponheim Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. History Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim. Sponheim Abbey There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Step ...

Castles in the Hunsrück