Burg Neu-Dernbach, Medieval castle ruins in Bad Endbach, Germany

Burg Neu-Dernbach is the ruin of a hilltop castle at about 480 metres above sea level in Dernbach, part of Bad Endbach. It was built before 1350 by the Lords of Dernbach with support from the Hainchen line of the Lords of Bicken and enfeoffed to the Landgrave of Hesse, who returned it as a fief that same year. The site is a Ganerbenburg, held jointly by two family branches: the von und zu Dernbach and the von Dernbach genannt Graul.

Burg Neu-Dernbach was built before 1350 by the Lords of Dernbach with support from the Hainchen line of the Lords of Bicken, and enfeoffed to the Landgrave of Hesse, who granted it back to the von Dernbach family that same year. It served as an outpost against the County of Nassau and to guard the western flank of Burg Blankenstein. After the Dernbach Feud ended around 1333/36, the castle secured the newly won Obergericht of the Blankenstein office.

The castle was a Ganerbenburg shared by two branches of the family: the von und zu Dernbach and the von Dernbach genannt Graul. In 1540 Peter von Dernbach genannt Graul sold his share to the Landgrave of Hesse and moved to Wiesenfeld. The last of the line at Dernbach, Peter Philipp Friederich von und zu Dernbach, died in 1729 after his horse stumbled over a frozen molehill during a hunt.

The ruin lies on a hill at about 480 metres above sea level in Dernbach, north of Wommelshausen, and is reached on foot; allow for a climb from the village. Nothing in the sources records cellar vaults or excavations, so the visible remains are the masonry of the ruined hilltop castle.

The fortress served as a checkpoint along the Brabant Road, a major medieval trade route. As merchants began using alternative paths, the castle lost its strategic value and was gradually abandoned.