Rieneck Castle, Rieneck, Germany

Rieneck Castle is a hill castle located in the town of Rieneck, Bavaria. In 1150 Ludwig I, Count of Loon and Rieneck, ordered the building of the castrum Rinecke on the northeastern boundary of his territory, with the aim of safeguarding the lands of this aristocratic family against the neighbouring lordships of Mainz, Würzburg and Fulda. The little hill in the Sinn valley offered excellent conditions: there was only one direction where the castle required additional protection by a defensive ditch, and offered as narrow a front as possible to attack. The latter can be clearly seen in the ground plan of the keep, the 19-metre high 'Thick Tower', which is outwardly an irregular, seven-sided polygon, whose tip points towards the nearby hill.

The castle complex initially consisted simply of a courtyard surrounded by defensive walls, and the keep, with its 4 to 8-metre thick walls. Inside the walls half-timbered buildings were constructed as living quarters, store rooms, and stables. Of these only what we now know as the 'arched cellar' survives.

The castle today serves as a scouting facility and is owned by the German Christian Guide and Scout Association VCP.

References:

Wikipedia

Wieskirche

The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.

The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.

The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.

AMR (6 months ago)
It was a great experience, highly recommended

Amelia Lancaster (8 months ago)
Good and Homely owned by a scouting association and I went this month!!!

Monica E (12 months ago)
We only visited the castle grounds, so this isn't a review of the accommodation/food. Beautiful castle, but at the time we visited it seemed almost abandoned, not much to do/visit. Beautiful view of the village.

Desi (14 months ago)
Favourite vacation spot

Arek Michalski (14 months ago)
Super ??

Rieneck Castle

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Wieskirche