Trifels Castle Totally Explained

Everything about Trifels Castle totally explained

Trifels Castle (German: Reichsburg Trifels (literally translated: Imperial Castle Trifels)) is a medieval castle at an elevation 500m near the small town of Annweiler, in the Palatinate, Germany. It is located on one peak of a three-way split red sandstone rock. (The name Trifels means threefold rock.) The Trifels Castle is on the peak Sonnenberg (literally translated: sun mountain), and on both of the other two rock elevations there are castle ruins: Anebos and Münz.
   Castle Trifels, where replicas of the Imperial Regalia (Reichskleinodien) of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation can be viewed, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Palatinate.
   First mentioned in a document of 1081, in the 12th and 13th centuries it was a place of safekeeping for the Imperial Regalia of the Salian and Hohenstaufen Emperors. The castle is most famous as the place where the English King Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) was imprisoned after his return from the crusades (a period of three weeks is well documented: 31 March to 19 April 1193).
   It is characterized by a large well tower outside the ring wall, linked to the castle by a bridge.

Timetable

Rise

1081 First mentioned in a deed of donation
1113 Imperial Castle
1125 Safekeeping of the Imperial Regalia by Duke Frederick II of Swabia after the death of Emperor Henry V.
approx. 1190 Construction of the main tower
1193 (-94?) Imprisonment of the English King Richard the Lionheart
1194 Initial point of the campaign of Emperor Henry VI against the Normans and afterwards the hoard of the treasure of the Normans.
1208 Safekeeping of the Imperial Regalia by Chancellor Konrad III of Scharfenberg after the assassination of King Philip of Swabia
1219 The award of municipal laws to the settlement Annweiler with the award of the right to mint and issue coins (for the benefit of Trifels)
approx. 1230 Second building phase of the palace, construction of the well tower and start of construction of the ring wall
1241 Trifels is one of the most profitable possessions of the crown.
1246-98 Safekeeping of the Imperial Regalia

Decline With the end of the Staufer Dynasty in the 13th century, Castle Trifels lost importance.

from 1310 Forfeiting of the Imperial Castle to changing territorial lords

from 1400 Continued decline of significance

1410 Transfer to the dukedom Palatinate-Zweibrücken

1602 Destruction by a lightning strike; abandonment and step by step decay of the castle Restoration

1841 Beginning of restoration by the Kingdom of Bavaria

1866 Founding of the Trifels association

1935 Excavation in front of the main tower

1937 Assignment of the Bavarian prime minister Ludwig Siebert to upgrade the castle to a "national consecration site"

from 1938 New building work for several years at the palace. The new palace isn't a historically realistic reconstruction

1954/55 Construction of the first castellan house and addition of the ring walls

1960 Construction of the second castellan house

1964/66 Enlargement of the main tower

1973/74 Collapse and rebuilding of the northern ring wall

Further Information

Get more info on 'Trifels Castle'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://trifels_castle.totallyexplained.com">Trifels Castle Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.