Wing'in It: Hohenecken

I have a hard time remembering exactly how to pronounce this name. It's that second 'h' that gets me. This is the way it's pronounced: ho en eckin. It's a beautiful village that lies between our house and the Vogelweh base. After admiring it these past couple of months, we decided to explore it.

From the road, you can see a beautiful church, it's spires reaching toward the sky with a castle sitting above it. The church is stunning, although I cannot find the name of it.

World War I soldier statue

There is another church that sits next to this one. I know that it's a Catholic church...but again, I'm not sure of it's name.

There's also this:

click to enlarge

Hmmm... beer in Germany Who'd a thunk it?

We climbed the path up to the castle that sits above the village. That I know a little more about. It's called Burguine Hohenecken, or Burg Hohenecken for short. The word burg means castle.

Here's more about the castle from www.mobile-history.eu

Hohenecken Castle is a castle from the time of the Hohenstaufen in promontory on the castle hill above the Kaiserslautern district Hohenecken in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The exact founding date of the castle is not known. While in the older literature often assumes a building immediately after the construction of the Barbarossa Castle in Kaiserslautern (1156), recent findings suggest a rather late start of construction 50 years.Above all, the five-sided keep and the massive curtain wall construction indicate a point in 1200.

In the first Half of the 13th Century, the castle was given a fief Ministerialengeschlecht Kaiserslautern. These were the descendants of the Knight of Kaiserslautern Reinhard, who was endowed in 1214 by the King and later Emperor Frederick II to the right of patronage to Ramstein. The castle managers adopted the name of Hohenecken. The castle belonged to a reign that lasted for several settlements at the foot of Castle Hill and resulting valley community Hohenecken Erfenbach, aspen trail, and Stock Siegelsbach hamlet, today Stockborn. All are now part of the city of Kaiserslautern. Castle and domination were still after centuries as imperial fiefs.

At the beginning of the modern era began the decline of the High Castle corners. During the Peasants' War (1525) she was captured by rebellious peasants. 1668 was a long siege by the Elector Karl Ludwig of the Palatinate, which ended with the partial destruction of the castle. During the Nine Years War, it was finally demolished in 1689 by French troops.

The castle is considered by experts as one of the most spectacular castles of the Hohenstaufen period. She is now a popular tourist destination.

The day was beautiful....almost 50 degrees with an amazingly blue sky. The kids, not all that enthused about a hike to begin with, seemed more excited as we got nearer to the castle.