Greifenstein | |
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Greifenstein | |
![]() General view of the castle | |
Coordinates | 50°37′14″N8°17′40″E / 50.6206°N 8.2944°E Coordinates: 50°37′14″N8°17′40″E / 50.6206°N 8.2944°E |
Type | hill castle |
Code | DE-HE |
Height | 441 m above sea level (NHN) |
Site information | |
Condition | ruins, partially preserved |
Site history | |
Built | vor 1160 |
Garrison information | |
Occupants | nobility, counts |
Greifenstein Castle (German : Burg Greifenstein) lies in the eponymous village of Greifenstein in the county of Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Middle Hesse, Germany. It is a geo point in the national geopark of Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus.
The hill castle stands on a hill in the Dill Westerwald and has a good view over the Dill valley. At 441 m (1,447 ft) above sea level (NN) it is the highest castle in the county of Lahn-Dill. The castle is a highly visible landmark. It is signed from the A 45 motorway.
The hill castle was first recorded in 1160. In 1298 it was destroyed by the counts of Nassau and Solms, as was Lichtenstein, which was not rebuilt. In 1315 it was enfeoffed by the House of Habsburg (Albert I had purchased the castle from Kraft of Greifenstein) to the Counts of Nassau. [1] [2] After having several owners, it had become dilapidated by 1676 and was then converted into a Baroque schloss by William Maurice of Solms-Greifenstein. After the counts moved to Braunfels in 1693 the site fell into ruins.
In 1969 the castle ruins were gifted to the Greifenstein Society, who have since looked after the preservation of the site, which is open to the public and incorporates a restaurant. The castle is a heritage site in the meaning of the Hessian Monument Conservation Act. Since 1995, its restoration has also been supported by the Federal Republic of Germany because it has been classified as a Monument of National Significances (Denkmal von nationaler Bedeutung).
The circular walk across the castle terrain leads to a gaol with torture implements, weapons and a wine cellar, living rooms and a twin-towered bergfried accessible on a spiral staircase. On the pointed roof of the Brother Tower (Bruderturm) there is a gryphon (German: Greif, a reference to the name of the castle) as a weather vane. In the tower itself is a peal of three bells with strike tones of F#1, A1 and C2.
Attractions include the Village and Castle Museum (Dorf- und Burgmuseum), one of the few double chapels in Germany. The Chapel of St. Catherine was built in 1462 as a fortified church in the Gothic style. When the castle was converted into the Baroque style the castle courtyard was filled with earth with the result that, today, the chapel is below ground level. It contains frescoes and arrow slits as well as casemates with vaulted ceilings and fighting rooms. The Baroque church built above the fortified chapel from 1687 to 1702 is richly decorated with stuccos and is of the Italian Early Baroque period. Upper and lower churches are linked by a staircase.
Walks around the castle and an educational herb garden make the site a popular destination.
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif. Its highest elevation, at 657 m above sea level, is the Fuchskaute in the High Westerwald.
Lahn-Dill is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis.
Limburg-Weilburg is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Lahn-Dill, Hochtaunuskreis, Rheingau-Taunus, Rhein-Lahn, Westerwaldkreis.
The Lahn is a 245.6-kilometre-long (152.6 mi), right tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis.
Lahnstein is a verband-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn with the Rhine, approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Koblenz. Lahnstein was created in 1969 by the merger of the previously independent towns of Oberlahnstein on the south side of the Lahn and Niederlahnstein on the north side. In 2020, it had a population of 18,030.
Weilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest city in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.
Leun is a small town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany.
Solms is a town west of Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hessen, Germany with around 13,500 inhabitants. In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral castle of the Counts and Princes of Solms.
Aßlar is a town near Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany.
Braunfels is a town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.
Greifenstein is a community in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Its administrative seat is Beilstein. Greifenstein covers 67.43 km² on the eastern slope of the Westerwald range. It was named for the castle of the same name in the constituent community of the same name. This is the site of the German Bell Museum, which holds about 50 bells that show the historical development of bell pouring and manufacture.
Sinn is a community in Middle Hesse, Germany, in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis.
Löhnberg is a community north of Weilburg in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.
John, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg was the third son of Count Otto I of Nassau and his wife Agnes, daughter of Count Emich IV of Leiningen-Landeck. John was a first cousin of King Adolf of the Romans.
The region of Middle Hesse is one of three planning regions in the German state of Hesse, alongside North and South Hesse. Its territory is identical with that of the administrative province of Gießen and covers the counties of Limburg-Weilburg, Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Gießen, Marburg-Biedenkopf and Vogelsbergkreis. The Middle Hesse Regional Assembly, which decides on the regional plan, currently consists of 31 members chosen by the five counties and the three towns with special status: Gießen, Marburg and Wetzlar. The regional assembly has tasked the governing president (Regierungspräsident) with delivering regional management. The Mid-Hesse Regional Management Association was founded on 22 January 2003.
Schadeck Castle is a counter-castle which was built in opposition to the nearby Runkel Castle. It stands above the River Lahn in the eponymous parish in the county of Limburg-Weilburg in the German state of Hesse.
The Taunus Nature Park is a nature park in Central Germany with an area of 134,775 hectares (1347.75 km2) in the Central Upland range of the Taunus. It is one of two Hessian nature parks in the Taunus and the second largest nature park in Hesse.
Lichtenstein Castle is a levelled spur castle on the hill of Burgberg Lichtenstein, 315 m above sea level (NN), near the Greifenstein village of Holzhausen on the old military High Road, that ran from Frankfurt via Wetzlar to Cologne. The castle site is situated to the north of, and above, the Ulmbach Reservoir in the Hessian county of Lahn-Dill-Kreis.
Schloss Weilburg is a Baroque schloss in Weilburg, Hesse, Germany. It is located on a spur above the river Lahn and occupies about half of the area of the Old Town of Weilburg. It contains the Hochschloss, built between 1530 and 1572, which is one of the best-preserved Renaissance palaces in Hesse. In the 1700s, the palace was expanded by John Ernst, Count of Nassau-Weilburg, and his builder, Julius Ludwig Rothweil. The buildings and gardens now belong to the Verwaltung der Staatlichen Schlösser und Gärten Hessen, and they can be visited as a museum on guided tours. Parts of the palace are venues for the music festival Weilburger Schlosskonzerte, which is named after the palace.
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