Eberbach Castle

In essence, we should talk about three different castles, apparently belonging to different generations of the same noble family. Towering almost 160 meters above the Neckar Valley, the castles provided control over shipping in the Eberbach region and the path to the old Benedictine Abbey of Amorbach .

The exact time of the construction of the castles is unknown, but most likely they date back to the early days of Worms domination.

Based on archaeological finds, it is believed that the Front Castle was built in the last third of the XII century, the Middle Castle - about 1200, and the Rear - in the first half of the XIII century. In any case, in the record for 1196 a certain Count Conrad von Eberbach is mentioned, which indirectly indicates the existence of the castle of the same name by this time. Konrad von Eberbach is probably identical to the then-mentioned Earl of Konrad von Lauffen , one of the ministers of the Worms bishops.

With the suppression of the von Lauffen clan (after 1212), the castle could for some time be controlled by their heirs, the von Dürn clan .

In 1227, the castle was sold by Bishop Henry II to King Henry VII , and was a crown possession (or imperial castle, which could be transferred to the imperial ministers personally dependent on the king and emperor) until 1330, when he came to the Rhine Palatine graphs , and was subsequently controlled by a vogt appointed from Heidelberg .

In 1402, the Palatine Ruprecht III transferred the rights to the castle and the city to the family von Schirschhorn , during which the demolition of the castle began already in 1403. In subsequent centuries, the ruins of abandoned buildings were used by local residents as a quarry.

At the beginning of the 20th century, with the awakening of general interest in medieval history, in 1908-1909 and in 1927-1928. The first archaeological surveys and partial reconstruction of castle structures were carried out. A systematic scientific study of the ruins was already organized in 1959-1963.

The ruins of the castle complex are open for free visits, and are a favorite goal of hiking, offering beautiful views of the city of Eberbach and the Neckar Valley.

• Manfred Benner: Die Burgen von Eberbach und Burg Stolzeneck. In: Führer zu archäologischen Denkmälern in Deutschland. Bd. 36: Heidelberg, Mannheim und der Rhein-Neckar-Raum. Theiss, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-8062-1407-7 , S. 121 ff.
• Rüdiger Lenz: Burg Eberbach - eine staufische "Burgenkette" auf der Burghälde? : Darstellung ihrer Geschichte bis zum frühen 20. Jahrhundert, in: Eberbacher Geschichtsblatt 102 (2003), S. 86-128.