Frankenstein Castle is a hilltop castle at 1,210 feet (370 m). Lord Conrad II Reiz of Breuberg built it before 1250 and took the name von und zu Frankenstein. The first document proving its existence dates from 1252. It was enlarged and modernized at the start of the 15th century. In 1363 it was split between two Frankenstein families.
In 1662 Lord John I sold the lordship to the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt. The castle then served as a refuge and hospital and fell into ruin in the 18th century. The two distinctive towers are a mid-19th-century restoration that the article calls historically inaccurate.
Johann Konrad Dippel was born there in 1673, and some suggest he influenced Mary Shelley. The article notes that no mention of the castle appears in her journals. Visitors enter free, and the chapel serves as a civil wedding registry office.
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