First mentioned in 1081, probably founded by the Salians (Conrad II); postholes in the outer bailey are interpreted as the remains of a pre-Salian wooden castle. Returned to Emperor Henry V by Archbishop Adalbert of Mainz in 1112, since then in the firm possession of the Salians and later the Hohenstaufen dynasty. 1126-53; 1208-21 and 1244-74 repository of the imperial regalia. Prison for high-ranking state prisoners on several occasions, including King Richard the Lionheart of England in 1193/94. In 1194, Emperor Henry VI sets off from Trifels on his expedition to Sicily, which leads to the subjugation of the Norman Empire. The importance of the castle declines with the interregnum. Pledged to the Electoral Palatinate in 1330, it passed to the Palatinate-Zweibrücken in 1410 and was used to house the ducal archives. In 1602, the Trifels was destroyed by lightning. Finally abandoned in 1635 and released as a quarry. In the 19th century, the ruins were secured. 1935-38 excavations by Friedrich Sprater, director of the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Speyer. The work interrupted by the Second World War was resumed in 1946 and continued in 1948 by the State Palace Administration of Rhineland-Palatinate. (Dieter Barz)
Only small remains of the walls from the early days of the castle have survived. From the later 12th century and in the 13th century, the castle underwent fundamental remodelling. This remodelling phase includes the chapel tower (keep), palas and well tower as well as parts of the curtain wall. In the late Middle Ages, large parts of the curtain wall were rebuilt in addition to the two gates. The present-day character of the castle is determined by the reconstruction and extension work of the 20th century. In 1851, King Ludwig I of Bavaria had his court architect August von Voit (1801-1870) draw up reconstruction plans, but these were not realised. G. von Schacky designed a reconstruction drawing in 1881 and the Trifels- Verein, founded in 1866, initiated the first reconstruction measures. In 1882, the large fountain arch to the fountain tower was erected. The Munich architect Rudolf Esterer (1880- 1965) - head of the building department from 1930, president of the Bavarian Palace Administration in Munich from 1945-52 - began a monumental extension project in 1937, initiated by the Trifels-Verein, commissioned by the Bavarian Minister President Ludwig Siebert and supported by the cultural-political ideology of the National Socialist era ("National Socialist place of consecration"; "symbol of the new Reich"). The architect modelled his design on Staufer castles in southern Italy. His original model from 1937 has been preserved. Excavations were carried out in 1935-38 under the direction of Friedrich Sprater, the director of the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Speyer. The Second World War interrupted the work, which was resumed in 1946 and continued from 1948 by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Palace Administration. In 1938-42 and 1946-59, the Palas was rebuilt with a festival hall, in 1960 the first castellan's house was built, in 1963-66 a fourth tower storey was added to the keep, in 1972-78 the curtain walls were secured and in 1988/89 the second castellan's house was built above a Staufer-era rock staircase. (Dieter Barz and Jens Friedhoff)
The main castle complex (palas and keep = chapel tower; fountain tower), situated on the highest rock, dates back to the Hohenstaufen period (12th/13th century), while large parts of the ring and kennel walls belong to the 15th and 16th centuries. There are also isolated traces of Salian buildings from the 11th century, particularly on the eastern slope of the castle. To the north of the castle is the striking fountain tower (2nd quarter of the 13th century; superstructure with battlements 1882), which is rather rare in medieval castle construction. On the east side of the castle hill, the castle path leads through two castle gates to the outer bailey. The three lower storeys of the rectangular keep (around 1180/90), which is accessed by masonry steps and also serves as a gate tower and houses the castle chapel, belong to the medieval building stock of the complex. The exterior shows the use of humpback ashlars. The three head masks of the oriel-like projecting chapel apse and the impressive cross-ribbed vaulted interior of the chapel allow conclusions to be drawn about the work of a construction company active in Worms. In the room above, with the remains of a fireplace, there are replicas of the imperial jewels made by the Mainz goldsmith Erwin Huppert in 1955-89 on behalf of the Trifels-Verein. The modern top floor of the tower contains spolia from the high medieval palas (around 1230). The palas, whose original construction probably dates back to around 1200, was essentially built around 1230. It is a completely free new creation of the 20th century over old foundation walls. The two-storey upper floor festival hall provides the setting for concerts and cultural events. (Dieter Barz and Jens Friedhoff)
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