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Burgruine Oberreifenberg
Burgruine Oberreifenberg
Outdoor area freely accessible, tower see website
The Reifenberg ruins in Oberreifenberg are the highest medieval castle in the Taunus mountains and a striking landmark at an altitude of over 600 meters. Originally the ancestral seat of the warlike Reiffenberger family, it was probably built in the 13th century and was first mentioned in documents in 1331. The Ganerbenburg castle once covered an area of 25,000 m² and consisted of a three-part inner castle with an outer bailey, curtain wall, and outer ward. Despite being destroyed several times, it was rebuilt again and again, most recently in the 16th century, when it was documented as a “fortified mountain house.” During the War of the Palatinate Succession in 1689, it was finally demolished after the family died out. Today, parts of the fortifications, the keep, a four-meter-thick shield wall with round towers, a church cellar, and a slender, six-story residential tower remain. From the platform of the keep, there is a wide view over the upper Weiltal valley to the Großer Feldberg. The ruins tell of military, civil, and sacred use over centuries.