The 13th-century castle preserved by 1970s engineering

Lichteneck sits where the land reaches out into the Kochertal, a spur of stone rising above the streets of Ingelfingen. It is a Spornburg, a castle designed to grip the mountain like a hand, overlooking rows of vineyards that blanket the slopes.

Kraft von Boxberg raised these walls around 1250. The records offer two possibilities for its fall - 1394, when Count Eberhard von Württemberg marched against the Schlegler, or 1436, during the violence of the Wertheimer Feud.

Weather and time have left the ruin with approximately half of its outer walls still preserved. On the side facing the mountain, the castle moat still exists, marking the boundary of the historical site.

Today, the ruin is a landmark of the town, preserved from further decay. In the 1970s, the masonry of the ruin was comprehensively secured after several weather-related damages.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons