Grevenburg, Castle ruin in Traben-Trarbach, Germany

Grevenburg is a castle ruin on a rocky hilltop above Traben-Trarbach. Its main surviving structure is the western facade of the former commander's house, a tall rectangular wall of grey and brown stone blocks with a jagged top, three small rectangular window openings in a row and a larger arched opening below. To its right stands a lower rounded wall remnant with a wide arch, and many foundations remain.

Count Johann III of Sponheim built the castle in 1350, replacing Starkenburg as the residence of the Rear County of Sponheim. After the Sponheim male line died out in 1437, it became the seat of the bailiff. In 1680 Louis XIV took it, and Vauban expanded it as an outwork of Mont Royal. French troops blew it up in July 1734 after a three-week siege in the War of the Polish Succession.

The ruins reveal how fortified residences were organized in the Mosel valley and what daily life looked like for their inhabitants. Walking through the site helps visitors understand the strategic importance this location held for the region.

A hiking trail leads up to the ruin from the Brückentor gate in the Mosel valley. The former main ditch in front of the castle has been levelled and now serves as a car park. A restaurant is built against one of the four palace towers on the site.

The castle was besieged four times in total; the last, in 1734 during the War of the Polish Succession, ended after about three weeks when French artillery breached the walls. The French then blew the castle up, and large chunks of masonry plunged into the valley below.