The exact date of the foundation of the castle is unknown. Whilst older sources often plump for a construction date immediately following the building of the
Barbarossaburg in Kaiserslautern in 1156, more recent sources tend to lean towards a date about 50 years later. The pentagonal
bergfried and the massive
shield wall in particular point to a construction date of around 1200. In the first half of the 13th century the castle was
enfeoffed to a Kaiserslautern family of
ministeriales, the descendants of Reinhard of Lautern, the
knight. In 1214, they were awarded the
right of patronage of
Ramstein by the king,
Frederick II, who would later become emperor. From then on the castle's owners called themselves
von Hohenecken. A
barony belonged to the castle, which covered several villages: the valley settlement of Hohenecken at the foot of the castle hill (
Burgberg) as well as
Erfenbach,
Espensteig,
Siegelbach and
Stockweiler, today Stockborn. All have since become part of the city of Kaiserslautern. Castle and barony were an imperial fief for centuries. At the beginning of the early modern period, Hohenecken Castle went into decline. In the
German Peasants' War of 1525 it was captured by rebellious peasants. In 1668 there was a lengthy siege by Prince-Elector
Charles Louis of the
Palatinate, which ended in the partial destruction of the castle. In 1689, during the
War of the Palatine Succession, the castle was blown up by
French troops. == Layout ==