Marienburg Castle (Leutesdorf)

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Marienburg Castle, aerial view (2016)
View of the Rhine Marienburg
North wing

The Marienburg in Leutesdorf is a small baroque castle in the north of the town, directly on the Rhine .

The history of the castle

The origin goes back to the Leutesdorf castle, which was built by the governors of Leutesdorf. These had been ordered by the Counts of Virneburg . In 1300 the knight Werner Vogt von Leutesdorf is mentioned as a robber baron . Over the centuries, the bailiffs of Leutesdorf acquired shares in Bürresheim Castle by marrying Bürresheimer heir daughters, and relocated there. In the course of time the castle became a wine yard. The individual lines of the Bailiffs of Leutesdorf died out one after the other. The last heir, Katharina Vogt von Leutesdorf, married the knight Emmerich Schilling von Lahnstein in 1464 . In 1661, after a process that lasted 89 years , the Breitbach-Bürresheimers became the owners of Leutesdorf Castle. In 1680 the castle was sold again to Ferdinand Damian Freiherr von Breitbach, Lord of Bürresheim. This in turn sold the property in 1736 to the Trier court advisor Ernst Anton Sohler, who was the director of the Leutesdorfer Rheinzolls.

Tower with north wing

Marienburg

1750–1754, the Trier court councilor Ernst Anton Sohler , who was also the owner of Namedyer Werthes for a time , which was named Sohler's Werth after him , built a four-story baroque palace on the foundations of Leutesdorfer Burg . The front is facing the Rhine, on the land side is the main entrance, with a beautiful rococo portal. The north wing with tower, which is attached at right angles to the main building, and another separate building together form the horseshoe-shaped inner courtyard. A beautiful landscape garden with a pergola and a small pavilion facing the Rhine joins the property. He lived in the house for only five years and died in 1759. The tenth child of his sister inherited the castle from his uncle Ernst Anton Josef Mees, which has since been called Meesenburg.

In 1855 the heirs sold the castle and the Namedyer Werth to Julius Johanny in Hückeswagen . He named the castle after his wife "Charlottenburg". In October 1869 the castle was sold to Carl Emil Blank from Barmen , and since then it has been called "Marienburg". Blank was a brother-in-law of Friedrich Engels . After the Second World War, the Mennonites set up a retirement home for displaced people there. After the old people's home was closed, the castle was renovated by two great-grandchildren Blanks.

Pergola with gazebo

Today there are private apartments in the Marienburg, so sightseeing is not possible. In the north wing there used to be the "Marienburg Coffee Gallery", where exhibitions by local artists and presentations of Leutesdorf wines were held on a regular basis.

Haunted castle

According to tradition, the castle was haunted in the past. It is said that one of the last owners was fetched by the devil on Good Friday around 1700 and was dragged alive to hell. From then on the castle was haunted. The ghost came with a great roar from the village, ran through the inner courtyard into the north wing, from there into the kitchen of the main house and disappeared into the pantry. At the same time it should have been restless in the garden.

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 27 '8.1 "  N , 7 ° 22' 48.7"  E