Burgruine Scharfenberg (Münz)

Leinsweiler, Germany, Germany

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Burgruine Scharfenberg, popularly known as "Münz," is a medieval rock castle ruin on a 489-meter spur above Leinsweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, likely built in the early 12th century as a Staufer imperial fortress serving as a state prison and possibly a mint for nearby Annweiler—though no coin-making evidence exists.

Home to the powerful Scharfenberg ministerial family, including Reichskanzler Konrad III von Scharfenberg who was Bishop of Speyer and Metz, it passed to the Electoral Palatinate in the 14th century after their line died out, suffering major damage in the 1525 Peasants' War and used as a refuge during the Thirty Years' War before gradual decay.

Its preserved highlights include a pre-1200 bergfried tower with buckelquader masonry, ring wall segments, and a bergfried; recently restored at significant cost and reopened in October 2024, it offers hikes with views toward Trifels Castle.