Sommerau Castle Ruins

Sommerau Castle was built on a rock spur around which the Ruwer river flowed on three sides. In the 13th century the castle was built by the Trier knight family 'von der Brücke', who had their ancestral seat in the Barbarathermen. The castle had fallen into disrepair by the beginning of the 19th century at the latest.

The facility measures 40 x 10 m. In the west, the remains of the former palace or residential building tower up to a height of 10 m, and in the east, the four-storey square keep, which with its four floors also served as a residential tower, is around 16 m high. Apparently an ascending wooden battlement led to a door about 3 m high. To the south on the fourth floor there is a large rectangular door with a toilet bay, the masonry of which is placed on consoles made of red sandstone. The residential building shows, recognizable from the inside, three full floors and half a fourth with the protruding remainder of a chimney that begins on the second floor. Only remnants of the rising masonry can be seen of the surrounding wall that supported the battlements. The remaining transverse walls are in the ground, the ground plan can only be determined through excavations.

Today the ruins are freely accessible.

References:

• Visit Mosel

Address

Zur Burg 8, Sommerau, Germany

Details

Founded: 13th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Hohenstaufen Dynasty (Germany)