Altdahn Castle

Altdahn Castle is a castle ruin in the Palatinate Forest, the German part of the Wasgau region, and is located near the town of Dahn in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It stands 337m above sea level .LocationThe rock castle of Altdahn belongs to the group of castles at Dahn, which also includes Grafendahn and Tanstein. Although the three castles are sited next to one another on a low, rocky ridge, they were not built at the same time. A similar type of castle arrangement is also found e. g. in the nearby French Vosges in the upper Alsace where there is a cluster of three castles at Husseren-les-Châteaux.Other sights nearby include the castle of Neudahn and the natural rock formation of Jungfernsprung.HistoryAltdahn was probably built in the early 13th century. Certainly in 1236 the castle was being run by Frederick of Dahn as a vassal of the Bishop of Speyer who, at that time, was Conrad IV of Dahn and may well have been a relative. The subsequent history of the castle is characterized by many wars and frequent destruction, that was, time and again, followed by rebuilding.