Eberbach Castle Ruins (Mittelburg)

En un regard

Le château en bref

Above the town of Eberbach, where the Itter valley opens into the Neckar valley, three independent spur castles – Vorderburg, Mittelburg and Hinterburg – are staggered some 160 m above the river. The middle castle, the Mittelburg, was begun in the last third of the 12th century by Count Konrad of Eberbach, probably of the House of Lauffen, at the same time as the front castle. Separated from the latter by a neck ditch, it has an irregular plan closed by a curtain wall that encloses the ruins of a square keep 11 m on each side with 3 m thick walls, accessible only by a ladder at upper-floor level, and of a palas to the north pierced on its upper level by three Romanesque arcaded windows, whose column bases recall the imperial palace of Wimpfen. Purchased in 1227 by King Henry (VII), the complex passed to the Palatinate in 1330 and was then given up for demolition in 1403. Excavated and partly restored in the 20th century, the ruins, mentioned by Mark Twain, are a freely accessible destination for walks.