Gemünden Castle

Gemünden Castle stands on a ridge that is roughly 30 meters high, overlooking the town of Gemünden in the valley of the Simmerbach.

At the site of the current castle, there once stood a medieval fortress, first mentioned in 1301, but it likely had even older origins. Initially owned by the Counts of Sponheim, they granted it to the Lords of Koppenstein and later the Schenk von Schmidtburg family. In 1514, the Schenk von Schmidtburg family purchased the fortress from the heirs of the Sponheim family. During the War of the Palatine Succession in 1689, the fortress was largely destroyed by French occupation forces under Louis XIV. Between 1718 and 1728, the current castle was rebuilt on the foundation of the original fortress. The last member of the Schmidtburg family married Captain Johann Anton von Salis-Soglio from Graubünden in 1815. He was entered into the Prussian nobility register as a baron in 1827, and he brought the castle into this family, which still resides there today. The nearby Koppenstein Castle is also part of their property.

Layout Winter view of Gemünden Castle The well-preserved castle consists of a rectangular three-story residential building with four robust round corner towers. These towers have baroque-style curved roof domes. The present castle structure was referred to as new in a document of partition from 1417. The second, older main building is now a ruin and originally consisted of a likely four-story residential tower with two front-facing round towers. This building is also mentioned in the 1417 document. Later, two of the floors were removed, so only the barrel-vaulted cellar and remnants of the first upper floor remain today. Both buildings are connected by an intermediate structure. Furthermore, substantial parts of the outer bailey are still preserved.

Present The castle is privately owned and inhabited by the owning family. Parts of the complex can be rented for family celebrations or other events. The interior of the castle is not open to the public and no guided tours are conducted.

Address

Schlossstraße 20, Gemünden, Kirchberg (Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany

Details

Founded: 1718-1728
Category: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Thirty Years War & Rise of Prussia (Germany)