Where is the original Hohenstaufen castle?

On the summit of the Hohenstaufen, 684 metres up, near Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Founded around 1070 and destroyed in 1525, only its foundations remain; a Staufer museum stands in the village below.

Hohenstaufen castles: which ones are open all year?

None is listed as open all year in the opening periods we have collected. Check each page before you go.

Hohenstaufen castles: how much is admission?

Across the 5 places whose prices we know, adult admission ranges from €4 to €12. 2 are free to enter.

The Hohenstaufen castles

15 châteaux listed

15 castles and palaces linked to Barbarossa’s dynasty, with admission prices and opening seasons.

Around 1070 Duke Frederick I of Swabia founded a castle on the summit of the Hohenstaufen, 684 metres up. It was the ancestral seat of the dynasty that gave the Holy Roman Empire three emperors between 1155 and 1250. Taken and destroyed in the Peasants’ War of 1525, it survives only as foundations.

Frederick Barbarossa built the palace at Gelnhausen, mostly between 1160 and 1180, where the trial of Henry the Lion was held in 1180. He built a royal palace at Kaiserslautern, turned the palace at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine into a fortress, and held imperial assemblies at the Boyneburg in 1166 and 1188.

Around them stand castles founded by or for the dynasty: the Ehrenburg in the early 12th century, the Mildenburg above Miltenberg, the Kropsburg around 1200 to guard the Trifels. In 1246 Conrad IV of Hohenstaufen married Elisabeth of Wittelsbach at Vohburg on the Danube.

The Kyffhäuser owes its fame to the legend of Barbarossa asleep inside the mountain, which spread in the 19th century. Several of these sites are ruins with free access.

The places, one by one

From the best known to the most discreet. Prices are for one adult; the season comes from the opening periods each place publishes.

Hohenstaufen Castle
Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg
Founded around 1070 by Duke Frederick I of Swabia, the dynasty’s ancestral castle.
free admissionSeason not published
Hours to be confirmed
Opening hours and access
Imperial Palace Gelnhausen
Gelnhausen, Hessen
Barbarossa’s palace, built mostly between 1160 and 1180; trial of Henry the Lion in 1180.
Adult admission: €4Season not published
Opening hours and access
Kaiserpfalz Kaiserswerth
Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen
An older royal palace that Barbarossa turned into a fortress in the late 12th century.
Season not published
Hours to be confirmed
Opening hours and access
Kaiserpfalz Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz
Remains of the royal palace Barbarossa built in the 12th century.
Season not published
Opening hours and access
Kyffhausen Castle
Kyffhäuserland, Thüringen
Tied to the legend of Barbarossa sleeping inside the mountain.
Season not published
Opening hours and access
Ehrenburg
Brodenbach, Rheinland-Pfalz
Founded in the early 12th century as a small Hohenstaufen stronghold.
Season not published
Opening hours and access
Katzenstein Castle
Dischingen, Baden-Württemberg
One of the oldest surviving Staufer castles, with an 11th-century keep.
Season not published
Opening hours and access
Mildenstein Castle
Leisnig, Sachsen
Substantially enlarged in the 12th century under Emperor Barbarossa.
Adult admission: €8Season not published
Hours to be confirmed
Opening hours and access
Mylau Castle
Reichenbach im Vogtland, Sachsen
Founded around 1180, probably under Barbarossa.
Adult admission: €12Season not published
Opening hours and access
Wachtenburg
Wachenheim an der Weinstraße, Rheinland-Pfalz
Built in the 12th century, probably on the orders of Conrad of Hohenstaufen.
free admissionSeason not published
Opening hours and access
Boyneburg
Sontra, Hessen
Barbarossa stayed here several times and held assemblies in 1166 and 1188.
Season not published
Opening hours and access
Burg Vohburg (Vohburg Castle)
Vohburg an der Donau, Bayern
Where Conrad IV of Hohenstaufen married Elisabeth of Wittelsbach in 1246.
Season not published
Opening hours and access
Mildenburg
Miltenberg, Bayern
Built in the 12th century on behalf of the Staufer.
Season not published
Opening hours and access
Kropsburg
Sankt Martin, Rheinland-Pfalz
Founded around 1200 by the Staufer to protect the nearby Trifels.
Season not published
Opening hours and access
Burg Gamburg (Gamburg Castle)
Werbach, Baden-Württemberg
Wall paintings of Barbarossa’s Third Crusade, among the oldest secular paintings north of the Alps.
Season not published
Opening hours and access

The map

The 15 places on this page. Tap a point to open its page.

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Frequently asked questions

Where is the original Hohenstaufen castle?: On the summit of the Hohenstaufen, 684 metres up, near Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Founded around 1070 and destroyed in 1525, only its foundations remain; a Staufer museum stands in the village below.
Hohenstaufen castles: which ones are open all year?: None is listed as open all year in the opening periods we have collected. Check each page before you go.
Hohenstaufen castles: how much is admission?: Across the 5 places whose prices we know, adult admission ranges from €4 to €12. 2 are free to enter.