Trifels Castle

Trifels stands on a sandstone crag above Annweiler and was the chief imperial castle of the Hohenstaufen, used to keep the imperial regalia, the crown, sword and orb, from 1125 until 1220, when Frederick II moved them to Waldburg Castle in Swabia. Richard I of England was held here for a period in 1193 after being captured returning from crusade, while an enormous ransom was raised in England for his release; the length of his stay at Trifels itself is debated but the imprisonment is documented. The castle decayed and was heavily rebuilt from the 1930s in a monumental style, so the present building reflects that period as much as the medieval one.

History

The castle is first mentioned in a deed of 1081, held by a local noble, Diemar, and in 1113 Emperor Henry V made it an imperial castle; on his death in 1125 Duke Frederick II of Swabia made it the keeping place of the imperial regalia, which stayed here until 1220. Richard the Lionheart, captured near Vienna in December 1192 on his way home from the Third Crusade, is well documented as held at Trifels for three weeks, from 31 March to 19 April 1193. The castle lost importance after the fall of the Hohenstaufen, was mortgaged to the Electoral Palatinate in 1330, passed to Palatinate-Simmern and Zweibrücken in 1410 and decayed after the Thirty Years' War, serving as a quarry; from about 1840 the Bavarian kings began to rebuild it, and the present castle is largely a reconstruction (Wikipedia, Trifels Castle).

Highlights

• The crag setting - a castle on a sandstone tower with two neighbours nearby.
• The regalia story - the imperial insignia kept here from 1125 to 1220.
• The Richard imprisonment - the documented captivity of 1193.
• The 1930s rebuilding - much of the visible fabric from the modern restoration.

When to go

April to October; the castle closes Mondays and reduces hours in winter. The walk up from Annweiler takes about forty-five minutes, or drive to a car park below.

Before you go

Much of what stands is twentieth-century reconstruction in a heavy style. The regalia are copies; originals are in Vienna. The climb is steep.

Nearby

The Dahner Felsenland lies southwest; the Wine Route is east.

Key facts