The castle was probably built before 1000 AD and is mentioned as
castellum Stoufenburc around 1012. It is thus the oldest recorded structure of its type in the
Palatinate region.
High Middle Ages • The first historically verified record of Stauf Castle is in connexion with a stay by the
Salian,
Duke Conrad I of Carinthia (975–1011). His son,
Duke Conrad II (~1003–1039), as well as holding a dukedom, also held the office of a count in the Wormsgau, Speyergau and Nahegau. Due to an uprising against his cousin,
King Conrad II he had to
slight several of his castles. That may be the reason why there is no mention of Stauf Castle for the next 2 centuries. He died without issue. • Godfrey of Staufen (died probably around 1187/1188), son of
Conrad of Hohenstaufen (1134/36–1195) and descendant of King and Emperor Conrad II, may be identified as the owner of the castle. • Count Eberhard III
of Eberstein (c. 1144–before 1219) inherited ownership of the castle until 1190, apparently through marriage to Kunigunde (born c. 1165), who must have been a descendant of Conrad of Hohenstaufen and, after the male line died out (by 1188), became heiress of the Barony of Stauf. Conrad's other daughter,
Agnes of Hohenstaufen (died 1204), inherited the County Palatine by Rhein. •
Eberhard IV by Eberstein (c. 1190–18 March 1263), became Baron of Stauf and founder of the
Cistercian abbey of Rosenthal after an inheritance division. • Agnes III of Eberstein, his daughter, married
Henry II of Saarbrücken-Zweibrücken in 1238, which is why the Barony of Stauf and Rosenthal Abbey fell to this family. Their daughter, Kunigunde (died before 1283) was the first abbess of Rosenthal and she also affiliated the convent to the
Cistercian Order. In the
Electorate of Trier is the recorded as the liege lord for Stauf Castle, as opposed to Henry II.
Late Middle Ages and Modern Times Count
Henry II of Sponheim-Bolanden bought the castle between 1378 and 1388. After the death of Count Henry II in 1393, the Barony of Stauf was bequeathed to the husband of his granddaughter, Count
Philip I of Nassau-Saarbrücken. Until the end of the 18th century it remained together with the
Barony of Kirchheim in the possession of the
House of Nassau. In 1525, during the
German Peasants' War, the castle, which consisted of an
outer bailey (southern bailey), a
middle bailey and the
inner bailey (northern bailey), was destroyed. From 1871, the
Historische Verein Rosenthal owned the ruin until it was transferred to the town of Eisenberg in June 2000. == References ==