Waldeck Castel (Ruin)

Waldeck Castle is a ruined castle in Vorderheubach, today a district of Heiligkreuzsteinach, in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg.

The remains of the former hilltop castle lie on the mountain spur between the Steinach valley and that of its small right tributary, the Heubach, a few steps from Neckarsteinach-Schafhof in the Odenwald.

The castle was built by the Lords of Strahlenberg, a family of free nobles attested from the second half of the 12th to the beginning of the 15th century. Their ancestral seat was the Strahlenburg in Schriesheim, built around 1235, where the family had originally built up a small lordship based on Vogt rights, which they held as a fief from Ellwangen Abbey.

In the second half of the 13th century, Conrad II of Strahlenberg built Waldeck Castle. After his brother Eberhard († 1293) became Bishop of Worms in 1291, he enfeoffed his nephew, Conrad III of Strahlenburg, with an extensive territory in the Steinach valley north of Neckarsteinach, which Conrad used between 1293 and 1316 to found clearance settlements (Heiligkreuzsteinach, Bärsbach, Eiterbach, Lampenhain, Altneudorf, Vorderheubach, Altenbach), which were grouped together in the Lordship of Waldeck.

In 1301, Conrad's widow and her sons Conrad IV and Rennewart II of Strahlenberg opened Waldeck and Strahlenberg castles to Count Palatine Ruprecht and granted him a right of first refusal. In 1310, however, the castle was pledged to the Diocese of Worms. In 1357, Siegfried of Strahlenberg sold Waldeck Castle and Lordship to Count Palatine Ruprecht I. The Counts Palatine sold Waldeck in 1388 to the family of the knight Kreis von Lindenfels, but finally acquired it in 1537 under Elector Ludwig V.

The Palatinate administration established its own administrative district in the former lordship. Since the administrator was called a "Keller" (cellarer) and had his official seat at Waldeck Castle, the area was henceforth referred to as the "Kellerei Waldeck". The Keller was responsible for administration, jurisdiction, and taxes.

The castle was destroyed at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. The Kellerei was moved to Schönau, where it was located until 1803.