Neuscharfeneck Castle

Flemlingen, Germany, Germany

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Neuscharfeneck Castle, also called Neuscharfeneck, near Flemlingen in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, was built in the mid-13th century by the Lords of Scharfeneck on a rocky spur above Dernbach as a successor to Alt-Scharfeneck, featuring a staufische Felsenburg core with Oberburg and Unterburg sections.

Elector Frederick I expanded it into a Renaissance fortress around 1469–1472 with cannon-armed shield walls, a representative Palas, Vorburg, and ring walls, making it one of the region's largest; it burned in the 1525 Peasants' War, was rebuilt by 1530–1531 under Löwenstein-Scharfeneck, then destroyed by Swedish forces via gunpowder in 1634 during the Thirty Years' War.

Used as a village quarry until Bavarian King Ludwig I banned demolition in 1828, its impressive remnants like the reinforced shieldmauer with panoramic views are maintained by the Scharfeneckverein for guided tours, though currently closed since October 2019.