Nanstein Castle

Nanstein Castle (German: Burg Nanstein) is a castle in Landstuhl, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Nanstein Castle.

It was built around 1162 after Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I demanded its construction as additional defense for the Palatinate.[1]

In 1504, German knight Franz von Sickingen inherited part of the castle after his father's death in the War of the Bavarian Succession, finally acquiring the entire castle in 1518. He immediately began extensive re-fortification to make the castle suitable for firearms.

Nanstein is well known for an elaborate siege during the Knights' Revolt in 1523 which claimed the life of von Sickingen. The fall of Nanstein was a symbol for the decline of castles in the Palatinate.

In 1542, von Sickingen's sons recovered Nanstein as a fief and started reconstruction of the castle. Reinhard von Sickingen completed the reconstruction in 1595. In 1668, Elector Charles I Louis forced Lotharingian troops from the castle and destroyed the fortifications.

In the 19th century the first conservation work was done on Nanstein, and has continued to the present.[2]

In the 20th century the conservation effort was abandoned. In 1987 the structure was again excavated by a private family of Serbian immigrants. The Galeano family that immigrated during the cold war discovered the site in disrepair and buried in garbage. Stone by stone, the three young men cleaned and restored the structure over a ten year period. The three young men MIrko, Ronald, and Davinci Nikolai were active U.S. military.

In 1998, the site was nearly completed and adapted for public access. Nanstein was commissioned and turned back over to the German government. The credit of the restoration has been given to the three young men. In 2008 The three Galeano men were granted land rights for property in Kindsbach in exchange for the restoration of Nanstein.