Hohenburg Castle Ruins

Homburg, Germany

Hohenburg castle was first mentioned in 1146 by the Counts of Homburg. They gave their name to Homburg, the district capital and university town which lies at the foot of the castle, and which was granted town status by Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian in 1330. After the death of the last Count of Homburg in 1449, the castle and town fell to the Counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken.

In the second half of the 16th century, Count Johann IV of Nassau-Saarbrücken refashioned the castle into a Renaissance palace as his seat of residence and made it more secure. In the years from 1680 to 1692, King Louis XIV commissioned his fortress builder, Vauban, to build up the palace and town into a strong fortress.

After the peace treaties of Rijswijk and Baden, the fortress was razed in the years 1697 and 1714. There were two gate systems in the mighty fortress wall. The market square enclosure and the road system also originate from this period.

Since 1981, the impressive ruins of the castle and fortress have been uncovered by extensive excavations and restored. The site is easily accessed along well-signposted walking trails. From the North bastion, the rock plateau is reached by a spiral staircase. There is an impressive view over the upstream plain of the city including Kaiserstrasse, which was named after Napoleon. The caponier takes you to the first ravelin and from there onto the glacis, which today is laid out like a park.

Below the ruins of the Hohenburg Castle there are Europe’s largest man-made mottled sandstone caves. Over twelve floors of mysterious corridors lead to impressive domed halls.

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Address

Schlossberg-Höhen-Straße 1, Homburg, Germany
See all sites in Homburg

Details

Founded: 12th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Hohenstaufen Dynasty (Germany)

More Information

eng.villesfortifiees.eu

Rating

4.2/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

Mike Conrad (2 years ago)
Free parking, free tour of the ruins, and a fairly large area to see. The views of the city are amazing! We really enjoyed our time here and ended up down by the caves and took that tour as well. Great day!
Patrick Breen (2 years ago)
The views were great and learned a bit about German history.
Abuamerican Little (2 years ago)
Nice place with an amazing view of Homburg city. Hotel at the top do you can get food and drinks. No public toilets, plenty of outdoor, uncovered parking. There's also the caves under the castle thst you can take a tour of. Great place missing one star because of the lack of a public bathroom
Kilian Erz (2 years ago)
Great spread out ruined castle at the top of the hill surrounded by the town of Homburg! It can be a bit of a laberynth if you try to walk all around it. Great views from the top as well! Some parts were fenced off but you could still walk around nearly everywhere. Really liked it!
Peter Balcazar (3 years ago)
Great exploration place to take the family for a hike. We didn't see most of it so we'll have to go back.
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