Berwartstein Castle Berwartstein Castle is a castle in the Wasgau , the southern part of the Palatinate Forest in the state Rhineland - Palatinate in southwestern Germany . It belongs to the category of rock castle s that were part of the Palatinate defences during the Middle Ages . This castle is noted in the publication " Works of Preservation of Monuments of Rheinland - Pfalz " , which was assembled and edited under contract by the Ministry of Education and Culture . This publication states that the three main representatives of the so called rock castles are located at " Drachenfels " ( English : " Dragon Rock " ) , " Altdahn " and " Berwartstein " where stairs , passages and rooms are carved out of the rock to form a complete living system which was essential to the defence of the castle . Although the Berwartstein appears somewhat complete when compared to the ruins of neighbouring castles , its structure is only a restoration of the original rock castle structure . It is the only castle in the Palatinate that was reconstructed after its demolition and inhabited . History . Origins . There is only speculation about the early of the castle and its name . The name " Berwartstein Castle " is mentioned for the first time in a document dating from 1152 , when the castle was given by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to Bishop Günther of Speyer . Occupied by robber barons . During the 13th century , feudal tenants , who carried the name " von Berwartstein " inhabited the castle , which they used as a base for raiding in the manner of robber baron s . The imperial cities of Strasbourg and Hagenau joined forces against the von Berwartsteins . Following several weeks of futile attacks against the castle the forces succeeded in taking it in 1314 , with the help of a traitor . A large amount of booty and about 30 prisoners were taken to Strasbourg . The knights of Berwartstein were permitted to buy the prisoners back for a large ransom . The knights of Berwartstein were forced to sell their castle to the brothers Ort and Ulrich von Weingarten . Four years later the castle became the property of the Weissenburg Monastery . Property of the Weissenburg Monastery . The Weissenburg Monastery placed the castle in stewardship and established a feudal system therein . This system allowed for the dismissal of vassals that became too presumptuous . Thus the monastery remained in possession of the castle for quite some time . This could have continued indefinitely had the last steward of the castle ( Erhard Wyler ) not gone too far . When he began feuding with the knights of Drachenfels , the Elector of the Palatinate took the opportunity to bring the Berwartstein Castle under his control . Hans von Trotha . Because of his dynastic ambitions , the Elector of the Palatinate wanted to get all of the Weissenburg - mandated territory under his control . To accomplish this , in 1480 he ordered the , knight Hans von Trotha , who was Marshal and Commander in Chief of the entire Palatinate forces , to proceed to Berwartstein . In this way he could enlarge the property at a cost to the Monastery of Weissenburg . For the quarrelsome knight this was a pleasure to fulfil , since this gave him a chance to take personal revenge on the Abbot of Weissenburg . Years before , Abbot Heinrich von Homburg had imposed a church fine on the knight ' s brother , Bishop Thilo . As a starting point for this conquering expedition , this experienced warrior first renovated the castle to improve its appearance . He built strong ramparts and bastions as well as the tower called " Little France " ( ) . Abandonmnent ( 1591 - 1893 ) . After Hans von Trotha ' s death , the Berwartstein Castle was owned by his son Christoph ; after his death the castle went to his son - in - law , Friedrich von Fleckenstein and remained to this family for three generations . During this time the castle was destroyed by fire in 1591 , and , since there is no mention of any attacks , it is presumed that the castle was hit by lightning . Even though the main sections of the castle were not destroyed by the fire , it stood empty and unused for many years to come . In the Peace of Westphalia ( 1648 ) , Berwarstein took special mention , when it was granted to Baron Gerhard von Waldenburg , known as " Schenkern " , a favorite of Emperor Ferdinand III . Since he did not restore the castle , it sank into oblivion . New life . Captain Bagienski bought the castle in 1893 . In 1922 the castle was purchased by Aksel Faber from Copenhagen , and thereby went into foreign ownership . Since he was seldom in Germany , he asked Alfons Wadlé to be his castle steward . Later he was able to purchase the castle . The village of Erlenbach below the castle was completely destroyed during World War II , and the inhabitants sought shelter in the castle . After the war the roofs were gone as well as woodwork around windows , doors , staircases and other furnishings . Since the castle was in no way subsidized , Alfons Wadlé went about the renovation himself . At first he was only able to do the bare essentials to protect the castle from the elements . Original castle entrance . Berwartstein has an opening on the southeast side of the cliff , commonly referred to as " the ascending entrance chimney " . During the early years of the castle only rooms and casemates in the upper cliff were complete and the ascending entrance chimney served as the only entrance to the castle . To make it easier to ascend this opening , a portable wooden staircase or rope ladder was placed into the castle . In the event of attack , the staircase or ladder was pulled up into the castle . This enabled the entrance to be defended by just one man who was supplied with hot sap , hot oil or liquid to be poured down on any intruder attempting to ascend the chimney . This limited access to the castles inner rooms was probably the main reason it was never conquered during the Middle Ages . The slender almost vertical cliff on which the castle stands , rises up to a height of approximately 45 m . Well . The extremely deep well is one of their greatest accomplishments in this area . The well has a diameter of 2 metres ( 6 ft ) and was chiselled down through the cliff to the bottom of the valley some 104 metres below . This was essential to the castle ' s life support system when under siege . The Knight ' s Hall . The historic Knight ' s Hall has a cross - vaulted ceiling . An engraving on the supporting central pillar shows that it dates back to the 13th century . The south wall of the hall is also formed from rock and includes a hewn - out lift shaft which was used by the knights of Berwartstein to assist in setting the table and to get the food and beverages down from the kitchen up above . Underground passageways . Carved out of the cliff and accessible even today are corridors and passageways which used to be part of the large underground defence network . Although not accessible today , there once existed a tunnel from the castle to the village below . These tunnels were hewn out with hammer and chisel and partly dug through the soil . Outpost " Little France " . Looking to the south and across from the castle on a protrusion of the Nestelberg one sees the tower named " Little France " . This tower was built by the most well known knight and owner of Berwartstein , Hans von Trotha , and was mean to be an outpost of the castle . The tower was used as a very important lookout and defence post and attackers often find themselves in a crossfire between the tower and the castle . The valley below and between the tower and castle still carries the name " Corpse Field " , a memory of the battles fought here . There is also evidence that there was an underground passage between the tower and castle which is no longer accessible today since it collapsed at its weaker points .