Reifferscheid Castle, Medieval hilltop castle in Reifferscheid, Germany.

Reifferscheid Castle is a medieval hilltop ruin in the municipality of Hellenthal, in the Eifel region of Germany. The remains include rubble stone walls, a round central keep, and a gatehouse flanked by two smaller towers.

Reifferscheid is first recorded in 1106 in the Chronica regia coloniensis as Riferschit, when Duke Henry of Limburg burned his own castle to keep it from enemy hands. A fire in 1509 led to rebuilding, and another blaze on 23 June 1669 destroyed castle and town; a Baroque schloss rose on the old walls. French Revolutionary troops destroyed it in 1794, and after 1805 it was quarried for building stone until the municipality of Hellenthal acquired it in 1965.

The name probably comes from a forest clearing belonging to a man called Rifhari: Rifersceith or Rifheres-sceit means "woodland strip of Rifhari". In 1416 the Lords of Reifferscheid inherited from the Lower Salm line and called themselves von Salm-Reifferscheid. The bergfried, white-plastered and climbable as an observation tower, gives the Eifel-Blick "Bergfried" at 470 m.

The ruin is reached on foot via walking trails, so sturdy shoes are a good idea as the paths can be slippery in wet weather. The hilltop position means visitors get a wide view of the surrounding Eifel countryside on clear days.

In 1385, the fortress held out for three months against a combined siege by several neighboring powers at once. The fact that it survived such a coordinated assault says a great deal about how solidly it was built.