Hohensyburg Castle, Dortmund, Germany

The Hohensyburg, a castle complex of the Lords of Sieberg, was constructed on the grounds of a former Saxon refuge, which was conquered in 775 by the Franks under Charlemagne. The castle, which was built around 1100 of Ruhr sandstone, was partially destroyed in 1287 by Count Eberhard I. von der Mark. The castle complex was an imperial fief of the von der Mark counts from 1300. This fiefdom was transferred to Brandenburg in 1609, and later to Prussia.

Two keeps, residential quarters (two-chamber system), the wall ring and the walls around the courtyard complex are still recognisable. In the inside of the castle is a war memorial by Fritz Bagdons.

References:

Dortmund Tourism

User Reviews

Tamara Pereira (2 months ago)
It has easy access, paved streets and parking. There are several attractions in this big place. Inside the parking lot there's an old church with a cemetery in the garden, further on there is a casino. We took the steps next to this casino and arrive at "Hohensyburg": not so big but nice to see. After that, there's an kiosk selling industrialized snacks and water. Plenty of picnic tables and chairs on site, benches to see the view as it's high up. I also saw a lot of pedestrians coming along a trail (I don't know where it starts), some people on bicycles and I also saw a wheelchair user. There is a paved way, a short walk that connects with the "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal" and allows a good view of the place. It is a very nice place to visit, the ruins are not big but they are worth it, the monument is very high. It is a quiet walk to do, it has entertainment for the children and the older ones enjoy the nature and the calm of the place.

James Conn (3 months ago)
Nice park with burg ruins and monument to Kaiser Wilhelm.

Sahand S.Kurdi (3 months ago)
One of the best places there with a great atmosphere for family too You can grill there And going on the edge you could see one of the best views in germany no matter how the weather is. Near there you can find some other great other activities

Deutsch Unterricht (10 months ago)
Nice place, very pleasant weather. It has a monument for soldiers, who were died in World wars. Beautiful statue of Wilhelm 2. and Bismarck. There are also nice landscape and nice cycle paths.

Atiq Massan (22 months ago)
The ruins are superb with extremely nice views over the river. The best time is early morning when the sun is coming up. When sun goes down it reflects on water. There is a walk way that goes down on ledges and different scenes present themselves. Going down is easy but dont go too down as coming up is constant stairs in a steep incline. There is a small shop and seating arrangement everywhere. Public toilet is there bur closed due to burst main pI'll pe. A bus 442 & 443 goe there every hour so time yourself accordingly. Bus stop is just a very shprt walk maybe 200 m to main ruins. One of the best places to visot in Dortmund. Highly recommended especially early in morning.

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The Church of St Eustace was built between 1532-1632. St Eustace"s is considered a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. The church’s reputation was strong enough of the time for it to be chosen as the location for a young Louis XIV to receive communion. Mozart also chose the sanctuary as the location for his mother’s funeral. Among those baptised here as children were Richelieu, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, future Madame de Pompadour and Molière, who was also married here in the 17th century. The last rites for Anne of Austria, Turenne and Mirabeau were pronounced within its walls. Marie de Gournay is buried there.

The origins of Saint Eustache date back to 13th century. The church became a parish church in 1223, thanks to a man named Jean Alais who achieved this by taxing the baskets of fish sold nearby, as granted by King Philip Augustus. To thank such divine generosity, Alais constructed a chapel dedicated to Sainte-Agnès, a Roman martyr. The construction of the current church began in 1532, the work not being finally completed until 1637. The name of the church refers to Saint Eustace, a Roman general of the second century AD who was burned, along with his family, for converting to Christianity, and it is believed that it was the transfer of a relic of Saint Eustache from the Abbey to Saint-Denis to the Church of Saint Eustache which resulted in its naming. Jeanne Baptiste d"Albert de Luynes was baptised here.

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The church is an example of a Gothic structure clothed in Renaissance detail. The church is relatively short in length at 105m, but its interior is 33.45m high to the vaulting. At the main façade, the left tower has been completed in Renaissance style, while the right tower remains a stump. The front and rear aspects provide a remarkable contrast between the comparatively sober classical front and the exuberant rear, which integrates Gothic forms and organization with Classical details. The L"écoute sculpture by Henri de Miller appears outside the church, to the south. A Keith Haring sculpture stands in a chapel of the church.

The Chapel of the Virgin was built in 1640 and restored from 1801 to 1804. It was inaugurated by Pius VII on the 22nd of December, 1804 when he came to Paris for the coronation of Napoleon. The apse chapel, with a ribbed cul-de-four vault, has at its centre a sculpture of the Virgin and Child of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle that the painter Thomas Couture highlighted by three large paintings.

With 8,000 pipes, the organ is reputed to be the largest pipe organ in France, surpassing the organs of Saint Sulpice and Notre Dame de Paris. The organ originally constructed by P.-A. Ducroquet was powerful enough for the premiere of Hector Berlioz" titanic Te Deum to be performed at St-Eustache in 1855.

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