Hofruine Geisskopf, Ruins of a forest farm settlement in the Palatinate Forest, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Hofruine Geisskopf is the site of a former forest farm settlement of five houses on the Geiskopf plateau at 390 m, south of Iggelbach in the Elmstein municipality. The area covers about 517 acres, including nine acres of meadows, one acre of house, yard and garden, and eight acres of arable land, as recorded in the 1748 survey.

The forest around the Geiskopf was jointly owned by the Counts of Leiningen and the Duke of Zweibrücken, who granted it as a hereditary lease on 23 June 1789 to the 88-year-old Andreas Bügler. The first house had probably been built after 1777 by tenants from the Geiswiese. A fire on 29 May 1759, possibly set by wood thieves, preceded the decision to grant the land in Erbbestand.

The settlement shows how people lived and worked in the forest to manage and protect timber resources. You can still see how the buildings were spread across the clearing to oversee the surrounding woods.

The Ritterstein marker stone number 186 pinpoints the exact location of the ruins to help visitors find the site. Sturdy footwear is recommended since the forest floor can be uneven and muddy in places.

The location was contested between two rulers because valuable oak and beech forests grew in the region. These disputes over timber resources show how precious natural materials once were to local powers.