at the castle in January 1948 to train prospective hostel managers and staff, but was forced to close it at the end of the same year because of the state's poor financial situation. The hostel itself, however, was unaffected. In 1957 the castle offered 270 beds and 60 emergency spaces and was thus the third largest youth hostel in Rhineland-Palatinate, after those in Koblenz and Mainz. In terms of overnight stays, it was in second place with 32,276. Beginning in October 1965, a further building programme was carried out at the castle under government superintendent of works Heinrich Grimm, based on the plans of Stahl, who had died in 1957. This included interior modernisation and renovation and a new administration building. In addition, a large terrace was created on the south side, and beginning in 1966 the still incomplete keep was built up a further 4 m and topped with a tall cone-shaped roof. The ceremonial reopening took place on 20 May 1967. The castle is still used as a hostel, now leased by the Rhineland-Palatinate Youth Hostel Association. It currently offers 168 beds and has approximately 42,000 overnights per year. It is almost always booked up. In the 1990s the non-visitor facilities were once more modernised at a cost of DM 8.3 million. Architecture Until 1689 A series of archaeological excavations between 1925 and 1927 revealed many previously hidden foundations of medieval buildings at the castle site, making it possible to reconstruct what was there before the castle was destroyed in 1689. According to the evidence, since the Middle Ages, Stahleck Castle had 3 entrances. One was a double gate reached by steps from the Rhine Valley, leading into a small, elongated zwinger, from which entry to the castle was through a double-barred door in the northern shield wall, 8 m from the northwest corner. The former main gate was in the west corner, on the site of today's main entrance, and could be reached either from the northern zwinger or by way of a drawbridge from a group of outbuildings to the southwest. The main gate led to a gate zwinger and an inside gate from which a narrow passage led to the courtyard. The third entrance consisted of a small door in the outside wall of the southern zwinger, which was parallel to the ring wall and had a round tower at the south corner. Immediately inside