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Castle Trifels in the Palatinate
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In the Palatinate Woods,
atop a high hill overlooking the small town of Anweiler, stands a castle
which in the middle ages was one of the most important
structures in Germany. Named Trifels, or three rocks because there
are three adjacent hill summits (see photo below), it is said that
in antiquity a
fortress-like structure, probably of Celtic origin, stood on
the highest hilltop where Castle Trifels now stands.
Today, Castle Trifels is but a mere, insignificant shadow of its former state. The imperial insignia are still kept here but they are replicas of the real ones, which are now housed at the Austrian historical museum in Vienna. And ye old King Richard is, off course, long gone with the wind. Still, the Castle is a lovely place to visit on a day's outing and it offers gorgeous views of the surrounding plains and villages, and conveys an aura of timelessness and history. I visited it on at least three occasions. To reach Trifels, you can park your vehicle in the parking lot above Anweiler and walk 30 minutes or so on a trail which, I may hasten to add, is rather steep and winding at places. If you're not a frequent mountain hiker, you'll probably have to spend a few minutes catching your breath when you reach the castle gates but, take it from me, it's well worth the effort. For those who cannot walk the trail, there is another parking lot close to the base of the Castle. Vistors have to pay a small fee to enter the Castle.
Many vistors have taken great photos at
Castle Trifels. See the image galleries of
Kristian Koehntopp
and
Mathias Mischler.
Nice photos of the Castle can also be found
here. I
found a website with a 360-degree navigatible
panorama of the Castle which is
worth seeing. The beautiful photo below of the Castle amidst its
beautiful surroundings was taken by
H. Sommer. My own photos were taken on a
cool Autumn day in the year 2000. The visit to the Castle was a real
pleasure. The whole valley was submerged in a dense fog bank as we
walked up the trail, giving it a magical and somewhat eerie feeling. |
Surrounded by dense woods,
this Castle had at least
two claims to fame. First, it housed the German imperial
insignia (crown, orb, scepter, sword) and important relics from 1125-1298 A.D.
(see photo below right). As it was the rule
then that he possesses the imperial insignia rules Germany, successive German rulers
apparently felt that the
seemingly impregnable Castle was their best guarantor of
power. Second, it was at this Castle that the English King "Richard
the Lionheart" was held captive in 1193 and possibly in 1194. King Richard was taken
prisoner on the orders of the vengeful Austrian
Archduke Leopold V as
he was returning to England from the Crusades, and subsequently
handed over to the German King Henry VI, who transported him to Trifels and
ransomed him to the English for a handsome sum of gold. As the middle
ages drew to a close, Trifel's importance diminished. It was ravaged
by fire when lightning struck it in 1602. The castle served as a place of
refuge for the inhabitants on the area from death and destruction
during the thirty years war (1618-48).
Years later, as the region was gripped by the plague, Trifels fell into abandonment
and was misused by the locals as a quarry. Rescued by
conservationists in the 19th
century, Trifels was restored under Hitler's National Socialists in
1938, but bears little architectural resemblance now with the Trifels of old
apart from a few surving structures.
And we
had the Castle practically to ourselves! I was unaware of any
other visitors at the time. By the way,
the two young women accompany-ing me were my colleagues from the German
University of Administrative Speyer, which is where I was studying
public administration at the time. Both lived in the Hospiz
which is featured in a seperate
