1152 given by Emperor Frederick I to Bishop Günther of Speyer as an imperial fief. In the 13th century owned by a Speyer ministerial family who named themselves after the castle. Conquered and destroyed in 1314 by the allied towns of Hagenau and Strasbourg, then rebuilt. 1347-1472 owned by the Abbey of Weissenburg in Alsace, from then on in the hands of the Elector Palatine, who lent the castle to his marshal, the Thuringian knight Hans von Trotha (died 1503) in 1480 and sold it shortly afterwards. He strengthened the fortifications and made the castle the base for his numerous war and raiding expeditions, particularly against Weißenburg. 1591 Fire, ruins ever since. (Dieter Barz)
In 1641, Berwartstein Castle passed to Baron Gerhard von Walderburg, who was confirmed in his will in 1651/52. If a note from 1645 is to be believed, Berwartstein was an uninhabitable ruin at this time. In 1793, the castle passed to the Palatine Electors and later to the Mannheim councillor Franz Dahm. In 1842, the Weißenburg timber merchant Dupont acquired the ruins at an auction, which passed to the widow of Jean Francois Bourault in Paris in 1843 and to Theodor Hoffman in 1893. Hoffman had the ruins historically restored. Today, Berwartstein Castle is open to visitors as a museum and castle pub. (Jens Friedhoff)
The structural development of the imposing complex, which is characterised above all by its historicist reconstruction, still requires fundamental investigation. Only modest remnants of the Staufer-era foundations from the middle of the 12th century have survived. For example, a section of the wall of the north-western upper castle (humpback ashlar without pincer holes). The other components of the upper castle (humpback ashlars with pincer holes) probably date to the 13th century. Structural changes were made to the lower castle in particular in the late Middle Ages and early modern period. These include the semi-circular and three-quarter round flanking towers with rectangular embrasures for firearms. Berwartstein Castle finally underwent its most serious intervention with the historicist reconstruction in the 1890s. (Jens Friedhoff)
The upper castle (400 m²) is located on an elongated, steeply sloping sandstone rock. This is where the main residential buildings stood, which were raised by one storey in the 19th century. The 104 metre deep well in a rock chamber with a chimney is located on a lower rock step. The other buildings of the lower castle have been heavily modernised. There are connecting passages between the late medieval flanking towers and two lounges in the rock. (Dieter Barz)