Kulturdenkmal  Nanstein Castle

Opening hours:
Closed on Mondays
fromtoOpening hours
February 1stNovember 30th10:00 am - 4:00 pm
April 1stSeptember 30th10:00 am - 6:00 pm
October 1stNovember 30th10:00 am - 4:00 pm
December 1stJanuary 31stclosed
Admission until half an hour before closing time
Entrance fees:
Adults€ 6.00
Adults with entitlement to reduction€ 5.00
schoolchildren, students (older than 18 years)€ 3.00
Children (younger than 18 years)€ 2.00
Children (younger than 6 years)free
last update: February 1st 2024

Arrival:
  • by the 'Sickingen-Bus'
  • by car: Melkerei (district of Landstuhl) follow the labeling
  • by foot: for example take the pathway next to the 'Zehntenscheune', follow the 'Sickingen' pathway from station 2 until station 8


coordinates for GPS:
49.409563,7.574183


'Nanstein' Castle is located at the edge of the Palatinate forest, the biggest continuous forestall area in Germany.

History of the castle:
the bildout of the rock 'Nanstein' can be just documented in second half of the 12th century
1152 - 1160Friedrich Barbarossa (Emperor Friedrich I Hohenstaufen) constructed an imperial palace in Kaiserslautern.
As shelter for the streets and the country arose around the imperial palace several castles.
Some other castles of that protective circuit are 'Beilstein' (Hochspeyer) and 'Hohenecken Nanstein'.
1189first certificate of 'Nanstein' Castle.
1444the regimen of the castle is divided, five different families had the power:
1st co-owners: counts of 'Sponheim'
2nd co-owners: counts of 'Zweibrücken-Bitsch'
3rd co-owners: counts of 'Nassau-Saarbrücken'
4th co-owner: duke of 'Zweibrücken'
5th co-owner: knight 'Wirich Puller of Hohenburg'
~ 1479knight Schweikert von Sickingen (father of Franz von Sickingen) got a part of the castle through the marriage to Margarete Puller von Hohenburg (mother of Franz von Sickingen)
1518knight Franz von Sickingen gained all parts of Nanstein Castle => sole ruler of the castle
- From that time on he began to convert the castle to a fortress (Battery-tower)
29.04.1523the three princes secular: Landgrave Philipp of Hesse, archbishop and elector Richard of Greifenclau (Trier) and prince secular Ludwig V. of Palatinate besieged the fortress of Landstuhl
30.04.1523the three princes secular started the borbardement
2.05.1523a wall with 24 feet diameter came down
1542the sons of Franz von Sickingen regained the properties of Landstuhl back but not the money and the jewels
1543the castle was converted a la Renaissance style
1590the grand-son of Franz von Sickingen, Reinhard built a bastion at the north side of the castle
1620engraving of Merian
1668prince elector of Palatinate detonated parts of the castle
1689command of Louis XIV. to burn the castle
1815the reign of Palatinate belonged to Bavaria
1856some citizen of Landstuhl began to remove the rubble of the castle and to expose the wall remains
1869Carl Ferdinand Stumm became the new owner of the castle and began to rebuilt parts of the “Battery-tower”
22.03.1871after the French-German war of 1870/71 an oak was plant as a peace symbol
1903the ruin and the forest became part of the kingdom of Bavaria
1946the area became part of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate
1969the tower with the stairs was restored
since 1963castle plays in the summer time
1979/80second floor of the 'Battery-tower' was rebuilt

Letzte Änderung am 04.02.2024