Reipoltskirchen Castle () is a water castle in the parish of Reipoltskirchen in the county of Kusel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is one of the best preserved water castles in the Palatinate region. The castle stands at a height of 208 metres above sea level (NN) on the site of an artificially created earth hillock around a rock spur on the Odenbach river. History As early as 1198, the first related nobleman, Meffried of Reipoltskirchen, is mentioned, so the castle could have existed at that time. However, the first record of a castle in Reipoltskirchen, castro Ripoltskirchen, does not appear until 1276, when the fortification came into the possession of Theoderich (Dietrich) of Hohenfels. The "von Hohenfels" were a branch of the lords of Bolanden, who later called themselves "lords of Reipoltskirchen" in a new branch of the Hohenfels family. When the Hohenfels family seat was destroyed in 1351, the family of the older line probably temporarily sought refuge with their cousin, Conrad, in the water castle of Reipoltskirchen. The last Hohenfels of the older line sold the remainder of his estate due to poverty and "meagre sustenance" (notturfft lipplicher narung) and had to spend the rest of his life in a house belonging to the Neuenbaumburg near his relatives, the Raugrave of Bolanden. In 1401, Nicholas Vogt of Hunolstein used the castle, which was part of the dower of his wife, Ida of Erbach, as a base during an armed confrontation with Duke Charles of Lorraine. The duke besieged the castle and captured it. Nicholas, who also called himself Lord of Hunolstein, and his stepson, Eberhard of Hohenfels, Lord of Reipoltskirchen, concluded an expiatory treaty with Duke Charles on 27 March 1401. Temporarily, a quarter of the castle and estate had to be ceded to Lorraine. The Vogt of Hunolstein experienced additional humiliation and was appointed as administrator of the Lorraine share in the castle (Sloss Ripoltzkirchen). At the beginning of the 16th century the castle was probably expanded by the brothers John (ally of Francis of Sickingen) and Wolfgang of Hohenfels-Reipoltskirchen. John II, to whom this extension had hitherto been attributed, was still a child at the time and only appears in the records from 1538 to 1570. The von Hohenfels line died out with John III (grandson of John II) in 1602. In accordance with a 1603 clause in the will by Countess Amalia,