Burg Friedelsheim

Friedelsheim, Germany, Germany

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Burg Friedelsheim was a rectangular lowland castle in Friedelsheim, a municipality in the Bad Dürkheim district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, that was expanded into a palace starting in 1575 and later destroyed.

The castle was likely built in the 13th or 14th century by the Lords of Bolanden, with its first written mention in 1418 when it belonged to Johann von Derne. Over the centuries it changed hands many times, passing through various noble families including the Electors Palatine, the Bishops of Limburg, and the Counts von Wiser. In 1575, Elector Johann Kasimir had the castle extensively rebuilt into an ornate Renaissance hunting palace with a large park.

The castle suffered severe damage during the Thirty Years' War when Spanish and Swedish troops captured and burned it, and it was almost completely destroyed in 1689 by French troops during the Palatinate War of Succession. The final destruction came in 1794 when it was burned down during the First Coalition War, leaving only ruins.