Nanstein Castle, Castle ruin in Landstuhl, Germany
Nanstein is a ruined spur castle on a 330-metre hill above Landstuhl, built into a 15-metre red sandstone rock of the same name. Its surviving walls of reddish-brown and tan sandstone enclose a main castle and an outer ward, now about 100 metres long and 50 metres wide. Visitors pass through a large rounded archway to a second, smaller arch, and can see a square chimney-like column atop the masonry.
Emperor Frederick I built the castle around 1152 to defend Hohenstaufen territories in the Palatinate region. Franz von Sickingen later transformed it into an artillery-resistant fortress before his death there during a siege in 1523.
The castle name appears in older records as Nannstein, Nannensteine, Nantstein and Nannenstul, and is sometimes called Burg Landstuhl after the town below. In the Kleines Rondell stands a fountain basin from 1560 carved with the arms of the Kranich von Kirchheim family, beside a statue of Franz von Sickingen erected in 1900.
The site can be visited daily, with extended access from April through September and reduced hours in winter months. The best time to visit is during good weather, as steep stairs and uneven paths require careful climbing.
The castle's name appears in old records as Nannstein, Nannensteine, Nantstein and Nannenstul, and it is sometimes called Burg Landstuhl after the town below. Inside, a stair tower bears the year 1518 and a chamber cut deep into the red sandstone rock, where water drips constantly from the ceiling and which is said to be where Franz von Sickingen died.
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