The remains of the Castle can be visited
CastleBann
Perlenberg Castle
Perlenberg Castle, also known as Perleburg or Perlenburg, is the ruin of a hilltop castle near the municipality of Bann, close to Hohenecken in the district of Kaiserslautern in Rhineland-Pfalz.
The castle ruin is located in the municipal area of Bann on the "Kleiner Berg" (Small Mountain) near the "Roman Hilltop Settlement Großer Berg" (Large Mountain). It was strategically situated on a small plateau at 371 m above sea level, which drops steeply on all sides. Its purpose was probably to control the road connection from Kaiserslautern to Landstuhl.
The "Perleburg" is a Staufer-era castle that was probably never completed. It was likely intended to be part of the protective system built around the Kaiserpfalz Lautern in the 12th century, as indicated by the quality of the ashlar masonry. The name is not historical but dates back to a document from 1542 (called Birleberg), which concerned border disputes between the Electoral Palatinate and Sickingen. By this time, the castle had long since fallen into disrepair.
It was only through archaeological excavations in 1901 by Christian Mehlis that the castle site was rediscovered and investigated. In the following years, the site was probably used as a quarry, as in 1913, numerous loose ashlar stones were reported, almost all of which have now disappeared. Further excavations and preservation measures took place from 1959 to 1963.
The site is now owned by the state of Rhineland-Pfalz.
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Of the castle site, only the stump of a square keep with a profiled plinth and carefully hewn ashlar blocks remains. With a side length of about 9 m and a wall thickness of 1 1/2 m, it has considerable dimensions and is thus comparable to the keeps of Landeck and Wildenberg. The plinth can be compared to the shield wall of Landeck.
The high quality in the workmanship of the few preserved remains elevates the "Perleburg" to the rank of one of the important Staufer castles in the Palatinate. Since no other traces of a castle complex are found apart from the tower stump, neither ruins nor any documentary evidence, it is highly probable that the castle was never completed.
An underground passage, which according to a legend was supposed to connect the Deutschherrenkomturei Einsiedeln (Kaiserslautern) with Perlenburg, could not be archaeologically proven. The legend stems from the so-called "Hummerplatz" (Lobster Place), a forest path along the former Sickingen border. It is said to sound hollow there when one steps firmly.
There is no path leading to the castle ruin. It is located in a natural forest reserve. While old castle guides still spoke of an excellent panoramic view, the summit plateau is now surrounded by tall trees.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Perleburg.JPG
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 49.4151, 7.6683