Castles and fortifications in Germany
Niederalfingen Castle
Niederalfingen Castle, also called the Marienburg, is a spur castle on a rocky hill spur above the Kocher valley. The castle was built around 1050 as a Hohenstaufen fortification to guard the important local trade routes. After 1300, it went into the possession of the Lord of Seckendorf, in 1368 to Count Eberhard the Jarrer of Württemberg, in 1415 to the Lord of House of Hürnheim and in 1551 the now mighty castl ...
Founded: 1050 |
Location:
Niederalfingen, Germany
Berleburg Castle
Berleburg castle is one of the few noble residences in Germany, which has been inhabited by the same family for the last 750 years. The castle was built in the 13th century. The two-storey north wing was expanded in 1555-1557 and the gatehouse dates from 1585. During the reign of Count Casimir, the three-storey central wing was built from 1731 to 1733. the Corps de Logis (the principal block of palace) was built in 17 ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Bad Berleburg, Germany
Wildenberg Castle
The ruins of the Wildenberg hill castle lie on a northeast-projecting hill spur, the Schlossberg. The lords of Dürn, meritorious members of the retinue of the Hohenstaufen emperor and Schutzvögte of Amorbach Abbey, had the castle built sometime between 1180 and around 1200. According to the Amorbach Abbey chronicles, however, his grandson Conrad I of Dürn (died 1258) started construction in 1216. This probab ...
Founded: 1180-1200 |
Location:
Kirchzell, Germany
Spyker Castle
The Spyker (Spycker) Castle and estate is the oldest profane structure on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen. Spycker was first recorded in 1318. It belonged then to the Stralsund patrician family von Külpens. In 1344 a daughter from the House of von Külpen married the Jasmunds. As a result the Spyker branch of the von Jasmunds was founded which died without issue in 1648. As a result of the Thirty Years' War, Pomerania, ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Glowe, Germany
Maus Castle
Maus Castle construction was begun in 1356 by Archbishop-Elector of Trier Bohemond II and was continued for the next 30 years by successive Electors of Trier. The construction of Burg Maus was to enforce Trier"s recently acquired Rhine River toll rights and to secure Trier"s borders against the Counts of Katzenelnbogen (who had built Burg Katz and Burg Rheinfels). In the latter half of the 14th century Burg Maus ...
Founded: 1356 |
Location:
Wellmich, Germany
Horneck Castle
Horneck castle was built around 1200 and was given to the Teutonic Order by Konrad von Horneck in 1438, thereby making it the seat of the 'Deutschmeister' (German Master) until it was destroyed in 1525 by fire during the German Peasants' War. Despite reconstruction shortly after Horneck Castle's destruction, Mergentheim became the new headquarters for the Teutonic Order in that region in 1527. As of 2006, the castle was ...
Founded: 1200/1533 |
Location:
Gundelsheim, Germany
Windeck Castle Ruins
Windeck 'old' Castle was built around 1200 by the lords of Windeck. The family, probably of Franconian origin and based in the Ortenau, owned wealthy allodial estates and held numerous fiefs from various liege lords, such as the empire, the Prince-Bishopric of Straßburg, the counts of Eberstein as well as the Vogtei of Schwarzach Abbey as an Afterlehen of the burgraves of Nuremberg. The first documentary evidence da ...
Founded: c. 1200 |
Location:
Bühl, Germany
Neunussberg Castle
The lords of Nußberg are known since the first half of the 12th century. The Neunußberg castle was built by Konrad von Nußberg in 1340-1350. It was destroyed by lightning in 1564 and left to decay without military purpose. Today Medieval castle tower, relics of the rampart with tower and the chapel (1353) remain.
Founded: 1340-1350 |
Location:
Viechtach, Germany
Dagestein Castle
Dagestein castle was built in the 12th century, although the written documentation is unclear. Vilseck village was first time mentioned in 1185. The oldest part is the Romanesque keep. The castle was looted and burned down during the feud in 1512 and later rebuilt. The extensive reconstruction took place in the 1730s. Today Dagenstein castle is owned by the city.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Vilseck, Germany
Heimburg Castle
Heimburg castle was built from 1294 on as a bastion in the Electorate of Mainz against the Palatines. It decayed later and was destroyed by the French in 1689. In the 19th century it was rebuilt by the industrialist Hugo Stinnes.
Founded: 1294 |
Location:
Niederheimbach, Germany
Bergzabern Palace
Bergzabern Palace is a landmark of the town of Bad Bergzabern. Formerly the residence of the Dukes of Pfalz-Zweibrücken, it now houses the administrative functions of the local government of Bad Bergzabern. The Counts of Saarbrücken probably built a water castle in the 12th and 13th centuries on the site of the present palace. It was first mentioned in 1333. In 1385 it fell to the Electorate of the Palatinate a ...
Founded: 16th century |
Location:
Bad Bergzabern, Germany
Bodelschwingh Castle
Bodelschwingh magnificent castle dates from the 13th century. The current Renaissance style water castle was built in the 16th and 17th centuries. It became to the possession family Innhausen and Knyphausen at the end of the 19th century, whose property the castle is still today.
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Dortmund, Germany
Pyrmont Castle
Burg Pyrmont was built in the late 12th century by Kuno von Schönburg. It was first time mentioned in document dating from 1225. Waldbott Bassenheim family restored the castle in 1712, but it was partially demolished during the French occupation in the tide of 18th and 19th centuries. The last restoration was made in 1912. Today Pyrmont castle is open to the public.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Roes, Germany
Gödens Castle
Gödens Castle was built in 1671 to its present form in the style of Dutch Baroque by Freiherr Haro Burchard v. Frydag. The north-east wing was built by using rests of the castle built in the Dutch Renaissance style and burned down in 1669. On the park side, the south-west wing is decorated with pavilion-like lateral projections and to the side of the court-yard, with large-scale portal projections and an arched outside s ...
Founded: 1671 |
Location:
Sande, Germany
Homburg Castle
Homburg was first mentioned in documents in 1276. Gottfried I of Sayn from the House of Sponheim (1247-1283/84) transferred his castrum Homburg to the German King Rudolf of Habsburg, in order to place it under his protection. He received the castle back as an inheritance. The castle was the residence of the Counts of Homburg, an imperial fiefdom (Reichsherrschaft). From 1635 Count Ernst von Sayn-Wittgenstein alte ...
Founded: 11th century/1635 |
Location:
Nümbrecht, Germany
Hohennagold Castle Ruins
Hohennagold Castle is a ruined castle overlooking the Black Forest town of Nagold. The ruins represent a relatively well-preserved 12th-century castle. The keep behind the curtain walls, a tower in the north-western corner of the complex as well as the outer ward with half-round and angular towers, are still visible. Around the castle there appears to have been a moat. An early medieval fortification was possibly erected ...
Founded: c. 1100 |
Location:
Nagold, Germany
Stein Castle
Stein Castle is the most important cave castle in Germany. The origins of the upper house are not totally clear. It may have stemmed from a fortification dating to the Roman or Celtic period. Stein was first recorded in 1135. The romantic figure of the legendary robber knight, Hainz von Stein dem Wilden, is closely associated with the castle. He is supposed to have lived in the castle in the early 13th century and was wri ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Stein an der Traun, Germany
Wolkenstein Castle
The Wolkenstein Castle developed historically by joining various older structures together. The tower with living quarters is the oldest part of the castle dating back to the 14th century, which was preceded by fortifications of unknown appearance. The kitchen building was expanded in the 16th century by the current dominating building parts: the South and North wings with gate house. Although much hints to the once neces ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Wolkenstein, Germany
Husen Castle Ruins
The original Husen castle, documented for the first time in 1246, was probably built here by the dukes of Zähringen in the 12th century. It given into the possession of the counts of Freiburg. In 1303, the castle went to the counts of Fürstenberg as a result of the marriage of Verena of Freiburg. Count Henry IV of Fürstenberg had the castle extensively remodelled and expanded from 1453 to 1477. A neck ditc ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Hausach, Germany
Hückeswagen Castle
Hückeswagen Castle was first mentioned in 1189. In 1260 the county Hückeswagen was disposed to the counts Berg, and the Hückeswagener counts moved to Moravia. In the future the castle of the countess Margarete von Hochstaden served as a widow"s seat. To constant Verpfändungen of Hückeswagen during the following centuries the name changed in 1397 into castle. During the following centuries the castle was mostly ...
Founded: c. 1189 |
Location:
Hückeswagen, Germany