Near the Eifel town of Manderscheid are the ruins of two castles, the castles of Manderschied, whose history and location reflect the mediaeval conflict of interest between the Electorate of Trier and the Duchy of Luxembourg.
Near the Eifel town of Manderscheid are the ruins of two castles, the castles of Manderschied, whose history and location reflect the mediaeval conflict of interest between the Electorate of Trier and the Duchy of Luxembourg.
The Oberburg or "Upper Castle" is located on a hilltop that was levelled in order to construct the castle. It had, as can still be seen from the ruins, an almost triangular enceinte and a five-story bergfried or fighting tower that has been made accessible again. From the bergfried there is a clear view of the Niederburg or "Lower Castle", the town of Manderscheid and the countryside of the Lieser valley.
The place name of Manderscheid is first recorded in a deed of gift by Ottos II to the Archbishop of Trier dating to 973. This is not, however, as is often maintained in the literature, the earliest record of the castle, which is first historically known from the feud over St. Maximin's Abbey in front of Trier between Count Henry the Blind of Namur-Luxembourg and Archbishop Albero of Trier, between 1141 and 1146. [1] The free lords of Manderscheid first appear in 1142 in the list of witnesses in a deed of gift. In the 14th century, the village of Obermanderscheid gave its name to the Electoral Trier Amt of Manderscheid, which existed until the late 18th century. However, the seat of government was not at the castle, but in the Kellerei of the neighbouring village to which Elector Baldwin had granted town rights in 1332 (according to other sources they were granted by King Louis the Bavarian as one of a number of rights). The local estates of the Elector of Trier formed a sort of bridgehead into the surrounding sovereign territory of Luxembourg. In 1673 the castle, still owned by the Electorate, was finally destroyed by French troops.
Today: the ruins of the Oberburg were thoroughly renovated in 1921 by the municipality of Manderscheid, on whose land it stands, and it is open to the public.
Today: the ruins of the Niederburg have been owned since 1899 by the Eifel Club and the club has slowly, but continually, restored them. They may be visited daily during the summer months. Guided group tours are also possible on request. The castle may also be booked for private events such as weddings. On the last weekend in August every year there is a medieval festival at the castle and the adjacent jousting field which receives about 15,000 visitors. [2]
Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm, now in the diocese of Trier (Germany), founded by the Frankish widow Bertrada the elder and her son Charibert, Count of Laon, in 721. The first abbot was Angloardus.
Manderscheid is a town in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and also both a climatic spa and a Kneipp spa. Until 1 July 2014, when it became part of the Verbandsgemeinde Wittlich-Land, it was the seat of the former Verbandsgemeinde Manderscheid.
Ulmen is a town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – to which it also belongs.
Maus Castle is a castle above the village of Wellmich in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies on the east side of the Rhine, north of Katz Castle in Sankt Goarshausen and opposite Rheinfels Castle at Sankt Goar across the river.
The County of Virneburg was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire in the region of the Eifel in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate.
Grenzau Castle is a ruined spur castle at 250 m above sea level (NN) near Höhr-Grenzhausen in the county of Westerwaldkreis in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the only castle in Germany with a triangular bergfried.
The Rauschenburg, also called Rauschenburg Castle, is the medieval ruin of a hill castle, located at around 250 metres above sea level, above the Ehrbach stream in the parish of Mermuth in the county of Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Schloss Schöneck is a castle which stands on a rock outcrop in the Ehrbach Gorge in the borough of Boppard in the Hunsrück mountains of Germany.
The Ehrenburg is the ruin of a spur castle at 230 m above sea level (NN) in the vicinity of Brodenbach in Germany. The castle had a very eventful history. It was built on a rocky spur called the Ehrenberg situated above the valley of the Ehrbach, a right bank valley of the Moselle. Once the fortified heart of a small imperial barony with estates between the Lower Moselle and Middle Rhine, it is today a cultural monument that hosts numerous events.
The Brömserburg is a castle located near the banks of the Rhine in the town of Rüdesheim am Rhein in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the German state of Hesse. Its original structure was probably one of the first stone castles in the Rhine Gorge, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Pyrmont Castle stands west of Münstermaifeld near Roes and Pillig on a slate rock outcrop above a waterfall on the Elzbach in the southern Eifel mountains in Germany. It is in the municipality of Roes in the district of Cochem-Zell.
Kerpen Castle is a spur castle standing on a dolomite hill spur at a height of 500 m above sea level (NHN) above the Eifel village of Kerpen in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Neuerburg is a castle and fortress in the western Eifel mountains in the Enzbach valley above the town of Neuerburg in the county of Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. After being restored from 1926 onwards, it has been used as a Jugendburg.
Schönecken Castle is a ruined hill castle at 467 m above sea level (NN) above the village of Schönecken in the Nims valley in the West Eifel mountains. It lies within the county of Bitburg-Prüm in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The castle stands on the lowest hill ridge in the middle of a valley bowl. The site is guarded on all sides by higher hills.
Virneburg Castle is a ruined hill castle on a slate hill, 430 m above sea level (NHN), around which the Nitzbach stream flows. It stands above the village of Virneburg in the county of Mayen-Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Wernerseck Castle, also called the Kelterhausburg, is a late medieval hill castle in the municipality of Ochtendung in the county of Mayen-Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It owes its name to its founder and lord of the castle, the Archbishop of Trier, Werner of Falkenstein (1388–1418). "Wernerseck" means "Werner's corner".
The Kasselburg is a ruined hill castle on a 490-metre-high basalt massif in Pelm near Gerolstein in the county of Vulkaneifel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
On a hill spur above the Eifel village of Monreal in Germany's Elzbach valley, at a height of 350 m above sea level (NHN), stand two neighbouring ruined hill castles: the Löwenburg, also called Monreal Castle, and the Philippsburg. The latter is also known locally as das Rech.
The Niederburg at Kobern, also called the Niedernburg, Unterburg or Neue Burg, is a hill castle above the municipality of Kobern-Gondorf in the county of Mayen-Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Oberburg at Kobern, also called the Oberburg or Altenburg, is a hill castle above the municipality of Kobern-Gondorf in the county of Mayen-Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
