Linn Castle

Krefeld, Germany

The oldest fortress on the Lower Rhine is located in the historic Krefeld suburb of Linn. The former country castle belonging to the Electorate of Cologne has its origins around 1200. It was badly damaged during the Spanish Civil War of 1704.

The beautiful water castle is well preserved and includes a bailey, hunting lodge and tithe barn. In the accompanying Landscape Museum it is possible to view excavation finds from the days of Roman rule in the 5th century and the time of the Frankish princes. The special items included in the exhibition are the gilded articles buried along with the princes in the largest continuous and well-preserved burial site in Gellep-Stratum.

A further attraction is the mediaeval barge from the time of Charles the Great. Concerts and readings are regularly held in the great hall of Linn Castle. The castle grounds, including the surrounding park, provide an impressive backdrop for events of all kinds.

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Address

Albert-Steeger-Straße 19B, Krefeld, Germany
See all sites in Krefeld

Details

Founded: c. 1200
Category: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Hohenstaufen Dynasty (Germany)

More Information

www.krefeld.de

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Cologne Cathedral (49,1 km)
Romano-Germanic Museum (49,1 km)
Arcen Castle (34,8 km)
St. Andrew's Church (48,9 km)
Great St. Martin Church (49,4 km)
Schlossturm (15,1 km)
Broich Castle (19,5 km)
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum (49,4 km)
St. Lambertus Church (15 km)

User Reviews

Aleh Stasiukevich (14 months ago)
Pretty nice place
matt higgins (2 years ago)
Great to walk around and see the buildings. You should plan on three to four hours to see it all and the little village right next to it. I wish they had windows that opened to see the fire department area they had .
Fabiola GPH (2 years ago)
Really nice place to visit, interesting story about the place and definitely if you’re looking for a venue for a wedding or any event, this is the right place.
Frank Wils (2 years ago)
Small museum in the newer castle administration house. Gives a good impression of the history and customs of the castle and surrounding lands.
Bernice Burger (2 years ago)
The Burg Linn is a beautiful place to enjoy some nature and see History retold, through the construction of the 14th Century castle.
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Cochem Castle

The original Cochem Castle, perched prominently on a hill above the Moselle River, served to collect tolls from passing ships. Modern research dates its origins to around 1100. Before its destruction by the French in 1689, the castle had a long and fascinating history. It changed hands numerous times and, like most castles, also changed its form over the centuries.

In 1151 King Konrad III ended a dispute over who should inherit Cochem Castle by laying siege to it and taking possession of it himself. That same year it became an official Imperial Castle (Reichsburg) subject to imperial authority. In 1282 it was Habsburg King Rudolf’s turn, when he conquered the Reichsburg Cochem and took it over. But just 12 years later, in 1294, the newest owner, King Adolf of Nassau pawned the castle, the town of Cochem and the surrounding region in order to finance his coronation. Adolf’s successor, Albrecht I, was unable to redeem the pledge and was forced to grant the castle to the archbishop in nearby Trier and the Electorate of Trier, which then administered the Reichsburg continuously, except for a brief interruption when Trier’s Archbishop Balduin of Luxembourg had to pawn the castle to a countess. But he got it back a year later.

The Electorate of Trier and its nobility became wealthy and powerful in large part due to the income from Cochem Castle and the rights to shipping tolls on the Moselle. Not until 1419 did the castle and its tolls come under the administration of civil bailiffs (Amtsmänner). While under the control of the bishops and electors in Trier from the 14th to the 16th century, the castle was expanded several times.

In 1688 the French invaded the Rhine and Moselle regions of the Palatinate, which included Cochem and its castle. French troops conquered the Reichsburg and then laid waste not only to the castle but also to Cochem and most of the other surrounding towns in a scorched-earth campaign. Between that time and the Congress of Vienna, the Palatinate and Cochem went back and forth between France and Prussia. In 1815 the western Palatinate and Cochem finally became part of Prussia once and for all.

Louis Jacques Ravené (1823-1879) did not live to see the completion of his renovated castle, but it was completed by his son Louis Auguste Ravené (1866-1944). Louis Auguste was only two years old when construction work at the old ruins above Cochem began in 1868, but most of the new castle took shape from 1874 to 1877, based on designs by Berlin architects. After the death of his father in 1879, Louis Auguste supervised the final stages of construction, mostly involving work on the castle’s interior. The castle was finally completed in 1890. Louis Auguste, like his father, a lover of art, filled the castle with an extensive art collection, most of which was lost during the Second World War.

In 1942, during the Nazi years, Ravené was forced to sell the family castle to the Prussian Ministry of Justice, which turned it into a law school run by the Nazi government. Following the end of the war, the castle became the property of the new state of Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate). In 1978 the city of Cochem bought the castle for 664,000 marks.

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