Reichenstein Castle (Middle Rhine)

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Reichenstein Castle
Aerial view of the castle complex

Aerial view of the castle complex

Alternative name (s): Falkenburg
Creation time : 1100 to 1200
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Preserved essential parts
Standing position : Clericals, nobles
Place: Trechtingshausen
Geographical location 50 ° 0 '18.5 "  N , 7 ° 51' 12.6"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 0 '18.5 "  N , 7 ° 51' 12.6"  E
Reichenstein Castle (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Reichenstein Castle

The Burg Reichenstein also Falkenburg called, is a castle in the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley . It stands on a promontory on the eastern slope of the Binger Forest above the Rhineland-Palatinate community of Trechtingshausen in the Mainz-Bingen district . The city of Bingen is only about 5 km (as the crow flies) to the southeast.

history

The first documentary mention of the hill fort comes from the year 1213, in which the imperial abbey Kornelimünster near Aachen Philip III. is used by Bolanden as "castellanus" and Vogt . A first conquest in 1253 is partly doubted or rejected in the professional world. The siege , conquest and destruction by King Rudolph von Habsburg in 1282 is clearly documented. The castle was banned from rebuilding. From 1290 the ruins were owned by the Count Palatinate , who renounced them in 1344 in favor of Kurmainz . This was followed by a quick new building. A double ring wall enclosed a rectangular residential tower and an inner courtyard of the main castle . Upstream was a north bailey .

In 1397, after the Pope had appointed Johann II of Nassau Archbishop of Mainz, disregarding the election of the Mainz Cathedral Chapter in the previous year, Archbishop Gottfried von Leiningen, elected in 1396, entrenched himself in the castle. It was only after tough negotiations that he renounced the bishop's chair and was instead resigned to the office of cathedral prope of Mainz. His relenting prevented another storm on the castle and possible further destruction.

The ruin before rebuilding; Steel engraving c. 1832 by Henry Winkles after William Tombleson 's views of the Rhine

The castle had been left to decay since the 16th century. The remains were blown up in 1689 in the Palatinate War of Succession . In 1834 Franz Wilhelm von Barfus bought the ruins and converted a tower into his residence. His heirs sold the castle to the barons von Rehfuß in 1877 and in 1889 to the consul Chosodowsky.

The castle was given its current appearance by Baron Nikolaus von Kirsch-Puricelli , a wealthy industrialist and owner of the Rheinböllerhütte , who had a neo-Gothic residential castle built in the English style by the Regensburg architect Strebel from 1899 to 1902 . Further residential buildings and an observation tower were built on the grounds of the outer bailey. Reichenstein was the last castle in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley to be rebuilt under the sign of Rhine romanticism .

Nowadays the complex houses a castle museum with a large collection of historical weapons and armor as well as cast-iron take plates from the Stromberger Neuhütte and the Rheinböllerhütte, a restaurant and since the end of 2015 a hotel. The living quarters in the castle have been preserved as they were over a hundred years ago. Weddings can still take place in the castle chapel and the old premises.

Events

On the first Saturday of July every year, the Rhine in Flames takes place: large fireworks and a boat tour on the Middle Rhine from Trechtingshausen with Reichenstein Castle, along Rheinstein Castle , Assmannshausen , Mäuseturm , Ehrenfels Castle ruins , Bingen am Rhein with Klopp Castle to Rüdesheim am Rhein with the Brömserburg .

literature

  • Alexander Thon: Cities against castles. Actual and alleged sieges of castles on the Middle Rhine by the Rhenish Federation 1254–1257. In: Yearbook for West German State History. No. 34, 2008, pp. 17–42, here pp. 33–36 (on the alleged siege in 1253 by the Rhenish Confederation, which was only founded in 1254).

Web links

Commons : Burg Reichenstein  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files