Randeck Castle is a ruined hill castle on the Schlossberg west of the wine growing village of Mannweiler-Cölln. The castle was probably built in the 12th century. It is first recorded in 1202 with a Henry of Randeck (Henricus de Randeke). He was probably a grandson of Ulrich of Wartenberg.[1] He was succeeded in 1231 by his son Godfrey I of Randeck. The grandson of Godfrey in 1298, Dietrich of Randeck. Another grandson in 1311, George of Randeck. From here were also descended Eberhard of Randeck (d 1372), cathedral dean and Bishop-elect of Speyer.
The castle was loaned in 1649 by Emperor Ferdinand III to the Teutonic knight, Hans Ludwig of Lewenstein. After the Lewensteins died out, the castle fell in 1668 to the Electoral Mainz chancellor, Nikolaus Georg Reigersberg. In 1690, during the War of the Palatine Succession, the castle was suddenly stormed by the French and blown up. Despite that, a few of its buildings were made habitable again. It was reported in 1844 that the castle was in private hands; it was torn down and its materials utilised.
Today, the castle is owned by the Cultural History Society of Mannweiler-Cölln. The remains of the enceinte, a corner outwork, the flanking towers and the foundations of the bergfried have survived.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.