Rockenhausen Castle

The Ruhenburg is a vanished moated castle in the Donnersbergkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate. Later, a new castle (Schloss Rockenhausen) was built on this site, which today houses a hotel in Rockenhausen.

The moated castle, built by the Raugraves, was first mentioned in 1243 as castrum Ruhinberc. In 1399, it was a Raugravial castle inhabited by burgmannen and was destroyed in 1504. The Elector pledged the castle in 1549 to Junker Hans Jakob von Thurn, who rebuilt it around 1571 into a Renaissance residential castle with a round tower, stone spiral staircase, and cubic Baroque building with a steep, dormer-studded hip roof and a two-story roof truss.

During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and the Palatine War of Succession (1688-1697), the castle was destroyed. From 1713 to 1738, it was rebuilt as a three-wing complex with outbuildings such as a cellar house, stables, and tithe barn. It was surrounded by a moat.

As a result of the Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1797, the castle lost its electoral administrative seat under French rule. Afterwards, it was auctioned several times until it came into the possession of the city of Rockenhausen in 1956 and was used as a town hall, library, and senior day care center. After 2000, the castle was renovated and converted. Today (2013), it is gastronomically used as the Schlosshotel Rockenhausen.