Bergfried

The Bergfried in Idar-Oberstein is a medieval keep tower rising above the gemstone town in the Nahe Valley of Rhineland-Palatinate. Towers of this type served as the last defensive refuge of a castle garrison in the Middle Ages, deliberately built without a ground-level entrance — access was only possible via a removable ladder several metres up. Today it functions as a viewpoint offering wide views across the Nahe Valley and the forested ridges of the Hunsrück. Note that the site is not wheelchair accessible.