SLIGHTLY more than 275 metres above Bad Soden are the ruins of Stolzenberg Castle.
It was probably first built in the 1000s to control trade along the Via Regia (Royal Road), which connected the Rhineland with Silesia.
The castle was badly damaged in the mid-13th century by "inimicos ecclesie" (enemies of the Church), who were not specifically identified but are thought to be a group of excommunicated nobles behind a series of attacks on Church property in the area.
William of Holland, the papal candidate to be King of the Romans (ie uncrowned Holy Roman Emperor, often rendered as King of the Germans), gave the abbot of nearby Fulda Abbey permission to rebuild the castle in 1252.
It later fell into disrepair, and was rendered useless as a defensive stronghold during the Knights' Revolt of 1522-3.
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| Note how high the entrance is on the keep, which is more-or-less the only part of castle to have survived |
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| View of Bad Soden old town from the top of the keep |
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| Information board about life in the castle |
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| How Stolzenberg Castle may have looked in its heyday |
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