Burg Hauenstein

Burg Hauenstein stands as the ruins of a hilltop castle in the Spessart hills, near the village of Krombach in Lower Franconia. It overlooks the Schloßgrundgraben stream, a tributary of the Kahl, and is separated from the modern Hof Hauenstein by a shallow depression. An earthwork dam once raised the stream’s upper course to create a defensive moat.

The castle was built before 1300 by the counts of Rieneck or their Mainz overlords to guard the upper Kahl valley. Excavations in 2017 uncovered 13th-century pottery and traces of a heated living chamber inside the main tower. In 1405 royal troops under the Archbishop of Mainz destroyed the stronghold, suspecting it had become a robber-baron’s lair on the Birkenhainer trade route.

Today visitors follow the old Heuweg path to the plateau where the ruins remain. Remains include a cellar with walls, a barrel-vaulted room, and stretches of curtain wall. The site lies on the Spessart Culture Trail and is marked by information board seven.