Sporkenburg

Sporkenburg
Eitelborn
The Sporkenburg in April 2009
Sporkenburg
Coordinates	50°22′01″N 7°43′43″E / 50.36694°N 7.72861°E / 50.36694; 7.72861Coordinates: 50°22′01″N 7°43′43″E / 50.36694°N 7.72861°E / 50.36694; 7.72861
Type	hill castle, spur castle
Code	DE-RP
Site information
Condition	ruin
Site history
Built	1310
Garrison information
Occupants	Ministeriales

The Sporkenburg is a late medieval castle ruin about one kilometre south of Eitelborn in the district of Westerwaldkreis in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The ruins of the spur castle lie within the parish of the village of Eitelborn in the Westerwald hills above the L 329 between Bad Ems and Arzbach. Located in the middle of the forest, the Sporkenburg is not easy to find. The easiest option is to follow the signs along the castle path (Burgweg) into the woods from the eastern exit of the village of Eitelborn aus (Erlenweg, near the cemetery). Pass through the barrier and take the right hand path from the crosstracks which leads gently downhill. Alternatively take the ascent from the L 329 from where the castle can be seen above the valley. The ruins are not managed and are freely accessible at any time.

The tower castle (Turmburg) is located on a roughly rectangular hill spur above the stream of Emsbach. The spur drops steeply away to the west, south and east. To the north the castle is protected by a length of ditch (Halsgraben). The outermost defences and the ward between the two curtain walls, the Zwinger, have almost completely disappeared.

The inner ward (Kernburg) is 35 metres long by 18 metres wide. It does not have a bergfried. On the north side the castle has a five-storey, slightly angled shield wall, reinforced with bartizans, that has a height of almost 20 metres. In the western section of the shield wall is the entrance to the inner ward. On the south side of the heavily built-up inner ward is the Palas with its Great Hall, whose outside walls have survived. The eastern part of the inner ward has been completely removed.