Burg Obergrombach

Burg und Schloss Obergrombach stand über siebenhundert Jahre im Dienst der Herren von Grombach, der Fürstbischöfe von Speyer und später der Familie von Bohlen und Halbach. The ruins of the original keep date from the 13th century and sit on a rocky spur east of the village centre. A 25-metre-high round tower with walls 2.4 metres thick still rises above the eastern ditch, while inside the curtain wall the remains of two former living quarters can be seen. The bishops Raban and Ludwig von Helmstatt strengthened the defences in the 15th century. After the Thirty Years War the castle was repeatedly besieged and partly destroyed by French troops. In 1720–23 Damian Hugo von Schönborn built the present baroque palace as a summer residence. Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach bought the estate in 1885 and his descendants still live there today. Visitors walk past the oval bailey and its round towers to the tall keep. The late-medieval chapel contains important frescoes commissioned by Bishop Johannes II. Nix von Hoheneck and is used in summer by the local Protestant congregation. Beyond the private cemetery lies the public open-air swimming pool once gifted to the town by the present lord of the manor, Eckbert von Bohlen und Halbach.