The castle of Neuscharfeneck is a

ruin Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

and a

cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...

above Ramberg and Dernbach on the territory of an exclave of Flemlingen in the district of Südliche Weinstraße in the west German state of

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

The ruins are situated in the eastern part of the Palatine Forest. They lie at an elevation of on the western foothills of the

Kalkofen Berg Kalkofen is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. References Donnersbergkreis {{Donnersbergkreis-geo-stub ...

in the middle of a forest and are only accessible over forest tracks.

Layout

The first castle, dating to the 13th century, was considerably smaller than the present ruins. Of the Hochstaufen castle only a few remnants have survived. The entire site measures about . Its shield wall, built from ca. 1212 to 1232 and extended in the years 1470 and 1530, is the mightiest in the Palatinate, with a length of and thickness of . Within the shield wall there are relatively few usable passages, chambers and

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mean ...

s. It therefore acted - apart from the hoarding (''Plattform'') that has not survived - primarily as passive protection for the castle behind it. The original entrance was over a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

through the shield wall into the castle. In the castle gardens, rare herbs such as White Henbane, ''Ingräu'' and Abbey Hysop were planted. There is still a partially surviving gateway with a flanking tower. Four water basins, chiselled out of the rock in the 13th century, were used as cisterns, that were supplied with rainwater and, from the 16th century, with water from the

Roßberg Spring Roßberg is a German name for a hill or mountain and may refer to: * Roßberg (Black Forest) (1,124.7 m), mountain in the Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg, Germany * Roßberg (Haardt) (637 m), third highest mountain in the Palatine Forest, Rhinelan ...

, away, over pipes made of clay or hollow tree trunks. The long upper castle (''Oberburg'') on the central rock was built from 1212 to 1232 as the first residential building but has not survived, apart from its well and an inaccessible chamber and steps in the rock.

Gallery

File:Neuscharfeneck_Torturm_aussen.jpg, Gate tower from the outside File:Neuscharfeneck-28-Torturm-gje.jpg, Gate tower from the inner courtyard File:Neuscharfeneck-25-Pallas vom Torturm-gje.jpg, View from the gate tower towards Pallas File:Neuscharfeneck-77-Pallas von Schildmauer-gje.jpg, View from the shield wall towards Pallas

References

Literature

* * Rolf Übel: ''Burg Neuscharfeneck bei Dernbach, Kreis Südliche Weinstraße''. Verlag für Burgenkunde und Pfalzforschung, Landau, 1998 * Alexander Thon (ed.): ''"... wie eine gebannte, unnahbare Zauberburg". Burgen in der Südpfalz''. 2nd, improved ed., Regensburg, 2005, pp. 122–127. * Walter Herrmann: ''Auf Rotem Fels'', pp. 150–155, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, 2004, * Jochen Goetze: ''Burgen in der Pfalz'', pp. 46–50, Heidelberg, 1991,

External links

Castle entry
in the scientific castle data bank of the European Institute of Castles (EBIDAT)

{{Authority control Castles in Rhineland-Palatinate Südliche Weinstraße Buildings and structures in the Palatinate Forest Rock castles