Anebos Castle is a ruin of a mediaeval castle in the Palatinate Forest south of Anweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

, Germany.
The name of the castle probably origins from the German word "Amboss" (anvil

Anvil

An anvil is a basic tool, a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool...

).

Geography

The remnants of this castle are located on top of a 300m high rocky low mountain range at an altitude of 480m.
Anebos belongs to a group of castles together with the Trifels Castle

Trifels Castle

Trifels Castle is a medieval castle at an elevation of near the small town of Annweiler, in the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany. It is located high above the Queich valley within the Palatinate Forest on one peak of a red sandstone mountain split into three...

 and the Scharfenberg Castle located on rocky mountain tops.
These type of castle is known as Rocca

Rocca (architecture)

Rocca is an Italian term meaning a high, fortifiable stronghold, usually located in smaller towns, beneath or on which the village or town clustered, within which its inhabitants might take refuge at times of trouble; under its owners' patronage the settlement might hope to find prosperity in...

 (Italian word for rock)

Castle complex

Today there are only a few remainders of the walls and the cistern

Cistern

A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...

. Until recent archaeological excavations the cistern was mistaken for a cellar.
Additionally traces of stonemasonry

Stonemasonry

The craft of stonemasonry has existed since the dawn of civilization - creating buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone from the earth. These materials have been used to construct many of the long-lasting, ancient monuments, artifacts, cathedrals, and cities in a wide variety of cultures...

 can be seen on the rock

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...

.

History

Regarding architectural research the construction was dated to the beginning of the 12th century.
The castle was the ancestral seat of the Herren von Anebos. They were ministerialis

Ministerialis

Ministerialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...

 of highest administrative rank and reported directly to the imperator being responsible for the system of feudal tenure of the castle. Historic sources for the Herren von Anebos exist only from the last decade of the 12th century until the middle of the 13th century.

In the 1194 the roman holy emperor Henry VI

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...

 was accompanied by the marshal

Marshal

Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...

 Eberhard von Anebos during the campaign against Italy.
His brother Heinrich replaced him in 1196.
Historic records mention an Eliza von Anebos as a widow of a marshal in 1234, 1250 and 1252.
By the middle of the 13th century the Herren von Anebos appear to be extinct as there are no further records containing their family name.

It is assumed that the feudal tenure of the castle was passed on to the family of a seneschal

Seneschal

A seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli...

 called Philipp I. von Falkenstein.
His wife Isengard transferred the castle back to king Conrad IV of Germany

Conrad IV of Germany

Conrad IV was king of Jerusalem , of Germany , and of Sicily .-Biography:...

.
This is evidence for the expiration of the tenure due to the lack of a male successor, which has the return of a castle to the king as consequence.
The last written record about the castle can be dated to 1266.

Recent research

The excavations since 2000 supplied new evidence, that the castle was inhabited until the 14th century. It appears that the castle was peacefully abandoned as no traces of desctruction by military actions were found.