Falkenstein
In 1019
a cliff named Falkenstein is mentioned in one of the Archbishop Erkinbalds
of Mainz documents. This cliff is considered today as the very northern
border of the Kaiserslauterer Empire. It is believed that Werner I.
of Bolanden constructed the castle on this cliff in 1125. It is known
that Werner I. of Bolanden was in this area from 1116 acting as a
vassal to Duke Friedrich II. of Schwaben. In 1135 Sigbold of Falkenstein,
one of the first Ministeriale who named himself after the
castle, is mentioned in a document of the Boland family’s monastery
of Hane. The real founder of the Falkenstein side lineage of the famous
Boldand Reichsministeriale is Philipp IV. of Bolanden, who
in 1233 explicitly called himself “of Falkenstein” in
a legal document.
The imperial fiefdom of Falkenstein, which in 1398 became a county, remained for a long time the property of this lineage. The side lineage died out and in 1420 after lengthy quarrels the Counts of Virneburg inherited the castle, subsequently in 1456 the Counts of Dhaun-Oberstein inherited the castle. Then in 1458 the Duke of Lorraine became the high feudal lord. From 1745 to the fall of the Old Empire we find the House of Austria as owner. They placed the Oberamt Falkenstein in the charge of the Austrian government in Freiburg.
In 1604 the old castle no longer met the requirements of its inhabitants. The owners, the Counts of Dhaun-Falkenstein, transferred their residence to Winnweiler. Falkenstein still had, however, a small military value .
In 1631, during the 30 Year War, the fortified castle was conquered by Spanish troops, then in 1632 by Swedish troops. In 1634 soldiers of the Lorraine occupied Falkenstein but were driven away by the French Marshal Schönbeck in 1644, who in 1647 blew up the castle and its installations.
In the following centuries vandalism and stone robbery turned the castle into a ruin, which was never rebuilt.
Restorations of the castle were made in the 1930s, 1970s and more recently.
