Today, Stahlberg Castle is a popular hiking destination. The complex, which is open to the public, is accessible through the Stahlberg-Schleife - a hiking path going from Bacharach through to Stahlberg and back - as well as through the RheinBurgenWeg trail. The untouched grounds of the ruins and unchanged mediaeval to early modern remains exercise a special fascination on all those who cast their eyes on them.

The two bergfrieds lying opposite each other are a special feature of this castle complex in Bacharach-Steeg. The upper and lower parts of the castle were respectively secured by a bergfried, and the two towers are still today a dominant feature of the ruin. Stahlberg Caste was founded shortly before 1155 by the Archbishopric of Cologne, but later came into the ownership of the count palatines of Wittelsbach from 1243. Stahleck Castle and Stahlberg Castle formed the backbone of the southern defence line of the “Bacharach Empire”. Today, Stahlberg Castle is a popular hiking destination. The complex, which is open to the public, is accessible through the Stahlberg-Schleife - a hiking path going from Bacharach through to Stahlberg and back - as well as through the RheinBurgenWeg trail. The untouched grounds of the ruins and unchanged mediaeval to early modern remains exercise a special fascination on all those who cast their eyes on them.

https://www.outdooractive.com

Burg Stahlberg

Account

by category

Login

Name

by region

Title

Name in English

Stahleck Castle

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle (German: Burg Pfalzgrafenstein) is a toll castle on the Falkenau island, otherwise known as Pfalz Island in the River Rhine near Kaub, Germany. Known as "the Pfalz," this former stronghold is famous for its picturesque and unique setting.

History

The keep of this island castle, a pentagonal tower with its point upstream, was erected between 1326 and 1327 by King Ludwig the Bavarian. Around the tower, a defensive hexagonal wall was built between 1338 and 1340. In 1477 Pfalzgrafenstein was passed as deposit to the Count of Katzenelnbogen. Later additions were made in 1607 and 1755, consisting of corner turrets, the gun bastion pointing upstream, and the characteristic baroque tower cap.

The castle functioned as a toll-collecting station that was not to be ignored. It worked in concert with Gutenfels Castle and the fortified town of Kaub on the right side of the river. Due to a dangerous cataract on the river's left, about a kilometer upstream, every vessel would have to use the fairway nearer to the right bank, thus floating downstream between the mighty fortress on the vessel's left and the town and castle on its right. A chain across the river drawn between those two fortifications forced ships to submit, and uncooperative traders could be kept in the dungeon until a ransom was delivered. The dungeon was a wooden float in the well.

Unlike the vast majority of Rhine castles, "the Pfalz" was never conquered or destroyed, withstanding not only wars, but also the natural onslaughts of ice and floods by the river. Its spartan quarters held about twenty men.

Extensive measures of waterway engineering in the nineteenth century, above all straightening the river for better use as an international waterway and along this particular stretch, clearing it from the old cataract, relocated the regularly used fairway from the river's right arm to its left. Thus the tactical advantage may not be apparent to one unaware of the change in the watercourse.

The island of the castle was used for the Rhine crossing by 60,000 Prussian troops under Blücher in the winter of 1814 in his pursuit of Napoleon.

The castle was acquired by Prussia in 1866, and toll collections ceased in 1867. It continued to be used as a signal station for the river boat traffic for about another century. In 1946, the castle became the property of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Museum

The State eventually turned "the Pfalz" into a museum and restored the color scheme of the baroque period. The museum reflects the conditions of the 14th century, and the visitor will not find modern amenities such as electricity or a lavatory. It is accessible to the public via a ferry service from nearby Kaub as long as river conditions permit.



Pfalzgrafenstein Castle

Gutenfels Castle (German: Burg Gutenfels), also known as Caub Castle, is a castle 110m above the town of Kaub in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

History

Gutenfels Castle was built in 1220. It was used with the toll castle, Pfalzgrafenstein Castle in the middle of the Rhein and the fortified town of Kaub on the farthest side to provide an impenetrable anti-toll zone for the Holy Roman Emperor until Prussia purchased the area (1866) and ended this toll in 1867.

The castle is part of the Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site added in 2002. The castle transitioned from a hotel into private ownership in 2006.



Gutenfels Castle


Nollig Castle (German: Ruine Nollig) is a ruin above the village of Lorch in Hesse, Germany.

Nollig Castle

The Schönburg is a castle above the medieval town of Oberwesel in the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Schönburg Castle was first mentioned in history between the years 911 and 1166.

From the 12th century, the Dukes of Schönburg ruled over the town of Oberwesel and had also the right to levy customs on the Rhine river. The most famous was Friedrich von Schönburg - a much-feared man known as “Marshall Schomberg” - who in the 17th century served as a colonel and as a general under the King of France in France and Portugal and later also for the Prussians and for William Prince of Orange in England.

The Schönburg line died out with the last heir, the son of Friedrich of Schönburg.

The castle was burned down in 1689 by French soldiers during the Palatinate wars.

Schönburg castle remained in ruins for 200 years until it was acquired by the German-American Rhinelander family who bought the castle from the town of Oberwesel in the late 19th century, and restored it.

The town council of Oberwesel acquired the castle back from the Rhinelander family in 1950.

Since 1957 the Hüttl family have been living at the castle on a long-term lease; they operate a successful hotel and restaurant there.

Schönburg (Rhine)

Das Hilchenhaus ist ein Steinhaus aus dem 16. Jahrhundert in Lorch im Rheingau. Es gilt als bedeutendster Renaissance-Bau im Weltkulturerbe Oberes Mittelrheintal.

Geschichte

Feldmarschall Johann Hilchen von Lorch († 1548), der dem bedeutenden Adelsgeschlecht Hilchen von Lorch entstammte, ließ das Haus kurz vor seinem Tod zwischen 1546 und 1548 errichten, erlebte aber die Fertigstellung nicht mehr. Nach dessen Tod erbte Maria, seine einzige Tochter, das Hilchenhaus. Sie war die Ehefrau von Ritter Adam (III.) Vogt von Hunolstein († 1540) und war zu diesem Zeitpunkt seit acht Jahren verwitwet. Nach ihrem Tod 1561 fiel das noch immer unfertige Haus an ihren Sohn Johann (IV.) von Hunolstein, der es schließlich 1573 mit Vollendung des Giebels fertigstellen ließ.

Im März 1675 und 1676 trafen sich der Kurfürst von Mainz Damian Hartard von der Leyen und sein älterer Bruder der Kurfürst von Trier Karl Kaspar von der Leyen im Hunolsteinerhof, wie das Hilchenhaus in dieser Zeit genannt wurde. (Nicht zu verwechseln mit dem ehemaligen Hunolsteinerhof in der Langgasse 12, dem heutigen Schönbornshof). Auch der Mainzer Kurfürst Lothar Franz von Schönborn übernachtete 1696 auf der Rückfahrt von Bad Ems nach Mainz in dem feudalen Wohnhaus in Lorch.

Bis 1716 war es in hunolsteinschem Besitz. Durch eine gerichtlich umstrittene Erbschaft kam das Haus und Gut 1716 an die hochverschuldeten Freiherrn von Dürkheim. Zur Deckung ihrer immensen Schulden verkauften sie 1722, unter anderem den gesamten Lorcher Besitz für ca. 24.000 fl. an den Freiherrn Anton von Sohlern und der Münda, der 1690 von Kaiser Leopold I. in den Adelsstand erhoben worden war.

Anton von Sohlern hatte bei den Kurfürsten von Trier Karriere gemacht. 1670 erscheint er als kurtrierischer geheimer Hofrat und ist gleichzeitig Amtsverwalter zu Boppard und Montabaur. 1675 ist er Hofgerichtsdirektor, 1711 Hofkanzler. Er soll mit seinem großen Einfluss den trierischen Kurfürsten Johann VIII. Hugo von Orsbeck nach beharrlicher Weigerung die Einwilligung für die Einrichtung der Kurfürstenwürde für das protestantische Kurfürstentum Braunschweig-Lüneburg (Hannover) abgerungen haben. Hannover soll sich mit einer sehr großen Summe bei Anton von Sohlern erkenntlich gezeigt haben. So konnte er zusätzlich zu seinem Besitz sehr viele Besitztümer erwerben, die er seinen drei Söhnen hinterließ.

Sein Sohn Freiherr Carl Heinrich von Sohlern bekam den erworbenen Lorcher Besitz und übernahm das Hilchenhaus als Stammsitz seiner Familie. Er gab sich und seiner Familie den Namenszusatz zu Lorch, um sich von den Linien seiner Brüder abzugrenzen, die sich Freiherr Anton von Sohlern zu Grarod und Freiherr Johann Hugo von Sohlern zu Nastätten nannten. (Die Nastätter Linie von Sohlern lebt bis heute fort. Von ca. 1890 bis 2013 hatte sie ihren Familiensitz auf der Burg Gößweinstein in der Fränkischen Schweiz. Ein Nachfahre ist der Schauspieler Gilbert von Sohlern.)

Die Lorcher Linie erlosch 1821 im Mannesstamm mit dem Tod des Freiherrn Franz Georg von Sohlern zu Lorch. So kam das Erbe an seine Schwester Maria, die mit dem kurtrierischen Kammerherrn und Jägerhauptmann Freiherr Carl Heinrich von Hausen verheiratet war.

Die Familien von Sohlern und die Nachfolger von Hausen waren zwar nicht mit den Hilchen verwandt, fühlten sich aber durch die Übernahme des Besitzes eng mit Johann Hilchen verbunden. So ließ 1838 die Freifrau Amalia von Plettenberg-Engsfeld geb. von Sohlern, sein Epitaph in der Pfarrkirche St. Martin renovieren. 1880 erfolgte eine weitere Renovierung durch Ferdinand von Hausen dem letzten dieser Linie.

Später ging der Besitz an den Grafen von Walderdorff über. 1885 wurde das alte Stammhaus der Hilchen, das an das „neue“ Hilchenhaus angrenzte, wegen Baufälligkeit niedergelegt.

1926 kaufte Albrecht Graf von Kanitz das Hilchenhaus. Seine Urgroßmutter mütterlicherseits, Therese Gräfin von Kielmannsegg, († 1863) war die jüngere Tochter des Reichsfreiherrn Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein († 1831). Sie wurde, da die Ehe ihrer älteren Schwester Henriette Gräfin von Giech zu Thurnau († 1865) kinderlos blieb, zur Alleinerbin des Stein'schen Besitzes. Ihr Mann Ludwig Ferdinand Graf von Kielmannsegg, mit dem sie drei Kinder hatte, erwarb in den 1840er Jahren, nach der Ablösung des Zehnten im Herzogtum Nassau den neben dem Hilchenhaus liegenden nassauischen Zehnthof von der nassauischen Domäne, um das geerbte Stein'sche Weingut in Lorch zu vergrößern. Er verlagerte das Gut von der Wisperstraße hierher. Graf Albrecht zu Kanitz war durch weibliche Erbfolge zum neuen Herrn der Freiherrichen vom und zum Stein'schen Güter geworden. So lag es für ihn nahe, die angrenzende Liegenschaft mit dem Hilchenhaus zu erwerben, um das Weingut nochmals zu vergrößern. Im Keller wurde ein Weinlokal eingerichtet und das Haus zu Wohn- und Gewerbezwecken vermietet. 1930 wurde die Schaufassade des Hilchenhauses mit Hilfe des Landeskonservators restauriert.

Nach starker Zerstörung im Zweiten Weltkrieg wurde es Anfang der 1950er Jahre notdürftig instand gesetzt, verwahrloste aber weiterhin. Im sogenannten Rittersaal wurden Reben veredelt. Der Keller wurde, wie zuvor in den 1920er Jahren, als Weinlokal verpachtet. In den 1960er Jahren fanden kurze Zeit italienische Gastarbeiter einfache Unterkunft. Nach dem Auszug der Rebveredlung renovierte der Gesangverein Eintracht den Rittersaal in Eigenleistung, um ihn als Proben- und Veranstaltungsraum zu nutzen. In den 1970er Jahren wurde nochmals die Schaufassade mit öffentlichen Mitteln renoviert. In den 1980er Jahren wurde die stark verwitterte, wappenverzierte Balkonbrüstung aus gelbem Sandstein abgenommen und sichergestellt.

Ende der 1990er Jahre gab es Bemühungen, das Mittelrheintal in die UNESCO-Weltkulturerbeliste aufnehmen zu lassen. Das seit einigen Jahren leerstehende Hilchenhaus wurde dadurch zum Spekulationsobjekt für potentielle Investoren. Ein ostwestfälischer Unternehmer wollte das Hilchenhaus umnutzen und durch zwei Ergänzungsbauten erweitern. Entstehen sollte ein Vier-Sterne-Hotel mit Wellnessabteilung. Nachdem ein viergeschossiger Rohbau hinter dem Hilchenhaus errichtet worden war, für den eine wertvolle Zehntscheune aus dem 18. Jahrhundert mit Genehmigung des Denkmalschutzes weichen musste, ging der Investor in den Konkurs. Übriggeblieben war von den Plänen nur der Rohbau, der die Sicht auf Lorchs gotische Pfarrkirche St. Martin empfindlich störte, sowie das völlig entkernte Hilchenhaus selbst. Es galt mittlerweile als einsturzgefährdet und wurde daher vom Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis provisorisch abgesichert.

Heutige Situation

Aufgeschreckt durch die desolate Situation wurde u. a. durch Bemühungen einer Bürgerinitiative eine grundlegende Sanierung des Hilchenhauses durchgeführt.

Im Jahre 2009 wurde das Hilchenhaus durch das Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR) in Bonn in das Investitionsprogramm Nationale UNESCO-Welterbestätten aufgenommen. 5,2 Mio. EUR wurden dort für die Sanierung des Hilchenhauses bereitgestellt, das Land Hessen unterstützte die Sanierung mit weiteren 500.000 EUR. Einen Eigenanteil i.H.v. 656.000 EUR stellte die Stadt Lorch.

Im November 2009 schloss die Stadt Lorch mit dem bisherigen Eigentümer des Grundstückes und Gebäudes, Sebastian Graf von Kanitz einen Erbbaurechtsvertrag ab, nach dem das Hilchenhaus der Stadt für 99 Jahre überlassen wurde.

Anfang 2010 wurde in einem ersten Teilprojekt mit dem Abriss der Hotelruine sowie die Sicherung des unter dem Rohbau liegenden historischen Weinkellers des Weingutes Graf von Kanitz begonnen. Die hierfür veranschlagten Kosten lagen bei knapp 500.000 EUR.

Ein zweites Teilprojekt sah die Sanierung des historischen Gebäudes vor. Im Juni 2010 wurde bei einer europaweiten Ausschreibung die Architektenleistungen für die Modernisierung, Instandsetzung und den Umbau des historischen Hilchenhauses an das Architekturbüro smp aus Oestrich-Winkel vergeben.

Ein drittes Teilprojekt befasste sich mit der Außengestaltung, ein viertes mit der Umfeldgestaltung. Wegen der Kostenüberschreitungen beim Gesamtprojekt wurde im August 2012 versucht, die Kosten der Außenanlagen in ein Stadtumbauprogramm zu übernehmen.

Hilchenhaus

In 1295, Archbishop Gerhard von Eppstein had the formidable Heimburg castle built in Niederheimbach.

Today, the Castle is in private ownership and not open to the public. However, the handsome walls can be admired from the RheinBurgenWeg trail which goes past.

In 1295, Archbishop Gerhard von Eppstein had the formidable Heimburg castle built in Niederheimbach. Severe war damage resulted in the castle complex falling into ruin in the 17th century. From 1836 onwards, several private owners followed in quick succession and one of these, Baron von Wackerbart, began with the development of the complex in 1866. Later the industrialist Eduard Rabeneck extended the core complex by the main residential building facing the Rhine, for instance, as well as by an administrational building in the Neo-Gothic style. During the development of the Castle in the 19th century, the orientation was not on the historical substance - instead, the owners created a landscape architecture in the style of villas. This gives Heimburg a special standing as regards the reconstructed and romanticised castle complexes on the Middle Rhine. Today, the Castle is in private ownership and not open to the public. However, the handsome walls can be admired from the RheinBurgenWeg trail which goes past.


https://www.outdooractive.com

Heimburg in Niederheimbach

The Sauerburg is located at the valley of "Sauerthal" (a valley beside the "Wispertal") on the top of a big hill (360m). The driveway to the castle is located high above the village of Sauerthal. 180 hectare of land belong to the castle Sauerburg.

History

In the 14th century castles often have been used for administration close to a customs facility and also for hunting. Even the Sauerburg seemed to be built for this purpose. The area around the Sauerburg belonged to the count palatines at rhine. They were the owners of the important custom facility "Kaub", which should have been protected by the Sauerburg.

In the year 1355 the arch bishop Gerlach of Mainz authorized count palatine Ruprecht to build the Sauerburg. The castle also should protect from the castle of Waldeck which was located pretty close. Only a few parts of walls remained from castle Waldeck. The counts Johann von Katzenelnbogen, Johann from Nassau-Merenberg and Adolf Nassau became lords of the castle for the new castle to be built. The construction finished in the end of 1361. In the following decades the ownership changed many times. In the year 1505 count palatine Philipp sold the castle to Philipp from Kronberg. The castle remained in the family of Kronberg. Georg from Kronberg was married to Margarethe from Fleckenstein. An emblem of family Kronberg-Fleckenstein is located on the Sauerburg since 1541. The son castellan of Friedberg died as the last of the masculine successors in the year 1617 and left the dilapidated castle to his daughter. She was married to Hans Reinhard Brömser. 1618 Brömser got the document of fee and rebuilt the castle as a fortress in the following years. He was told to be a very religious man and for this reason he is told to be the builder of the chapel on the Sauerburg. After his death his son Heinrich became owner of the castle. But the castle was destroyed in 1635 during the 30 Years War. When Heinrich Brömser died as the last masculine successor of this famous family, his inheritors were Carl Heinrich Freiherr from Metternich, Anna Margarete Freyfrau from Sickingen and Maria Margaretha from Bettendorf. But the authorization of a fee has been declined. 1676 Franz from Sickingen bought parts from the Sauerburg.

The Sauerburg got completely destroyed in 1689 by the French troops of king Ludwig XIV. In the following years on the "Hof Fronborn" a residence has been built. From then on it was no longer called "Sauerburg" but "Sauerberg". For this reason the name of "Hof Sauerberg" remained until today. 1692 Franz from Sickingen got the fee of Sauerburg again. In the following years the Sauerberg remained in the hands of the family from Sickingen. After this the ownership changed many times. In the years of 1909-1912 the wife of the privy councillor Dr. Josef von Loehr, Margarethe born Beyerle from Berlin let rebuild the castle again. After some changing owners the Vieso AG from Switzerland bought the castle and the "Sauerberger Hof". In the year 2004 the Sauerburg was completely renovated and is now a gem and landmark for the "Sauerthal".

Sauerthal with the Sauerburg belongs to the UNESCO "Welterbe Oberes Mittelrheintal".

https://www.sauerburger.org


Sauerburg

Sooneck Castle (German: Burg Sooneck) (also known as Saneck or Sonneck, previously also known as Schloss Sonneck) is a castle in the upper middle valley of the Rhine, in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located near the village of Niederheimbach between Bingen and Bacharach.

Since 2002, Sooneck Castle has been part of the Rhine Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Recent research has established that the castle was probably first mentioned in 1271. Like neighbouring Reichenstein Castle, it was managed by the lords of Hohenfels as bailiffs for Kornelimünster Abbey near Aachen.

What is certain is that the castle was besieged in 1282 by King Rudolph I. His troops overran and destroyed the castle and the king imposed a ban on rebuilding it, which he explicitly restated in 1290. In April 1346 Archbishop Henry III of Mainz gave Sooneck Castle in fief to John, Knight Marshall of Waldeck, who subsequently had a new castle built on the site. After his death it passed jointly to four of his heirs and the castle thus became a multi-family property, or Ganerbenburg.

The branches of the family jointly residing in the castle were not on good terms and quarreled over inheritances. Several times, peace had to be legally imposed.

When the line of Waldeck died out in 1553 with the death of Philipp Melchior, the Breidbach zu Bürresheim family, previously co-tenants, became sole tenants of Sooneck Castle. When that family became extinct, the castle began to fall into disrepair.

In the course of the War of the Palatine Succession, Sooneck - like all the castles on the left bank of the Rhine - was destroyed in 1689 by troops of King Louis XIV of France.

In 1774, the Archdiocese of Mainz leased the ruins to four residents of Trechtingshausen who planted vineyards. The site later came into the possession of the village of Niederheimbach.

In 1834, the then crown prince of Prussia, Frederick William IV, and his brothers Princes William, Charles, and Albert bought the completely derelict castle and, between 1834 and 1861, had it rebuilt as a hunting lodge. In the rebuilding, which was designed by the military architect Carl Schnitzler, the historical structures were largely retained with the addition of buildings in romantic style. The Prussian royal crest over the north gate of the castle dates to this period. Disagreements within the royal family and the effects of the revolutions in Germany in 1848 prevented the castle from ever being used as a hunting lodge.

After World War I aristocratic properties were nationalized and Sooneck Castle became a possession of the state. After World War II it passed to the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and in 1948 to the State Ministry of Castles (today Generaldirektion Kukturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz Direktion Burgen, Schlösser, Altertümer Rheinland-Pfalz). It can be visited on organized tours.

The residential areas of the castle are furnished predominantly with items in the neo-gothic and Biedermeier styles. The interiors are enriched by paintings owned by the Hohenzollern family and, since 1991, the Köth-Wanscheid family foundation, and drawings and sketches by Johann-Caspar Schneider among others.

Sooneck Castle

Reichenstein Castle (German: Burg Reichenstein), also known as Falkenburg is a castle in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. It stands on a mountain spur on the eastern slope of the Bingen Forest, above the Rhineland-Palatinate municipality of Trechtingshausen in the Mainz-Bingen district in Germany.

History

The first mention of the castle occurs in 1213, when Philipp III von Bolanden was appointed “castellanus” and bailiff by the Kornelimünster Abbey at Aachen. Its purported capture in 1253 remains a subject of debate among experts, though there is no doubt that King Rudolph I of Habsburg besieged, captured, and destroyed the castle in 1282. At the time, Reichenstein was in the hands of unruly robber knights led by Dietrich von Hohenfels. Following its destruction, King Rudolph forbid the castle from being rebuilt, and according to legend, had Dietrich and his followers beheaded near Saint Clement’s Chapel (Clemenskapelle). In truth, it seems that, while his followers were hung from trees, Dietrich himself escaped.

In the period that followed, the ruins of Reichenstein remained in the possession of the Count palatine of the Rhine and were rebuilt. Ludwig IV, the Holy Roman Emperor, granted the castle to the Elector and Archbishop of Mainz in 1344. At that time, a new double wall was built surrounding an inner court containing a rectangular keep, and a forecourt was added to the north. It eventually began to fall into disrepair after 1572, when it became unprofitable for Anton von Wiltberg, chamberlain in Mainz, to maintain its upkeep.

Franz Wilhelm von Barfuss bought the ruins in 1834 and began the restoration. The family Kirsch-Puricelli purchased the castle in 1899 and completed the restorations in a neo-Gothic style. The family lived in the castle from 1902-1936. The current owner is a direct descendant of the Puricelli.