Marksburg

Last updated
Marksburg
Braubach
Marksburg-Braubach.jpg
The Marksburg, from Braubach
Germany adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Marksburg
Type Medieval castle
Height160m.
Site information
Open to
the public
yes
Site history
Built1117
Built byHouse Eppstein
Marksburg and the river Rhine Marksburg Braubach 2012.jpg
Marksburg and the river Rhine

The Marksburg is a castle above the town of Braubach in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is one of the principal sites of the Rhine Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fortress was used for protection rather than as a residence for royal families. It has a striking example of a bergfried designed as a butter-churn tower. Of the 40 hill castles between Bingen am Rhein and Koblenz the Marksburg was one of only two which had never been destroyed (the other being Maus Castle) and at least the only one that had never fallen into disrepair. [1]

Contents

History

Middle Ages

A stone keep was built on the spot in 1100 by the Eppstein family and expanded into a castle around 1117 to protect the town of Braubach and to reinforce the customs facilities. It was first mentioned in documents in 1231. The Eppsteins were a powerful family in the region, with several members becoming archbishops in Mainz and Trier. [2] In 1283, Count Eberhard of Katzenelnbogen bought it and throughout the 14th and 15th century the high noble counts rebuilt the castle constantly. [3] In 1429 the male line of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen became extinct, and the territories went to the Count of Hesse, who expanded the castle to accommodate artillery and added the round towers of the outer curtain wall. [4]

19th century

The French emperor Napoleon seized then abolished the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. He gave the Marksburg to his ally the Duke of Nassau for his service. He used the castle as a prison and as a home for disabled soldiers. After the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 the Duchy of Nassau became a territory of Prussia, which took ownership of the Marksburg. [5]

Modern era

In 1900, the castle was sold for a symbolic price of 1,000 Goldmarks to the German Castles Association (Deutschen Burgenvereinigung), [6] which had been founded a year earlier as a private initiative to preserve castles in Germany. The Marksburg has been the head office of this organisation since 1931.

In March 1945, the castle was badly damaged by American artillery from across the Rhine.

In the 1990s, a copy of the Marksburg was created for the Ueno German Culture Village in Japan.

Notes

  1. "Die Marksburg – ein einzigartiges Baudenkmal" (in German). February 6, 2015. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015.
  2. de Fabianis, p. 131.
  3. Marksburg, The History of the County of Katzenelnbogen and the First Riesling of the World
  4. de Fabianis, p. 131.
  5. de Fabianis, p. 131
  6. MS-visucom.de

Sources

50°16′18.50″N7°38′57.00″E / 50.2718056°N 7.6491667°E / 50.2718056; 7.6491667


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolf, King of the Romans</span> Late 13th century King of the Romans

Adolf was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperial title. He was the first physically and mentally healthy ruler of the Holy Roman Empire ever to be deposed without a papal excommunication. Adolf died shortly afterwards in the Battle of Göllheim fighting against his successor Albert of Habsburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katzenelnbogen</span> Town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Katzenelnbogen is the name of a castle and small town in the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Katzenelnbogen is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Aar-Einrich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen</span> German count (1487–1559)

William I of Nassau-Siegen, nicknamed the Elder or the Rich, was Count of Nassau-Siegen and half of Diez from 1516 to 1559. He was a descendant of the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stahleck Castle</span> 12th-century fortified castle in Bacharach, Germany

Stahleck Castle is a 12th-century fortified castle in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley at Bacharach in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It stands on a crag approximately 160 metres (520 ft) above sea level on the left bank of the river at the mouth of the Steeg valley, approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Koblenz, and offers a commanding view of the Lorelei valley. Its name means "impregnable castle on a crag", from the Middle High German words stahel (steel) and ecke. It has a water-filled partial moat, a rarity in Germany. Built on the orders of the Archbishop of Cologne, it was destroyed in the late 17th century but rebuilt in the 20th and is now a hostel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhine Gorge</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Rheinland Pfalz and Hessen in Germany

The Rhine Gorge is a popular name for the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a 65 km section of the Rhine between Koblenz and Rüdesheim in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse in Germany. It was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in June 2002 because of its beauty as a cultural landscape, its importance as a route of transport across Europe, and the unique adaptations of the buildings and terraces to the steep slopes of the gorge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diez, Germany</span> Town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Diez an der Lahn is a town in Germany's Rhein-Lahn district in Rhineland-Palatinate, on the borders of Hesse. Diez is the administrative seat of the municipality of Diez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lahnstein</span> Town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Rhine</span> River in Germany

Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the river Rhine flows as the Middle Rhine through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river at about its original level, and the surrounding lands raised. This gorge is quite deep, about 130 metres (430 ft) from the top of the rocks down to the average water-line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braubach</span> Town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Braubach is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 10 km southeast of Koblenz. Braubach has assorted medieval architecture intact, including portions of the town wall, half-timbered buildings, and castle Marksburg on the hill above.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rheinfels Castle</span> Castle in Germany

Rheinfels Castle is a castle ruin located above the left (west) bank of the Rhine in Sankt Goar, Germany. It was started in 1245 by Count Diether V of Katzenelnbogen. After expansions, it was the largest fortress in the Middle Rhein Valley between Koblenz and Mainz. It was slighted by French Revolutionary Army troops in 1797. It is the largest castle overlooking the Rhine, and historically covered five times its current area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pfalzgrafenstein Castle</span> Toll castle in the River Rhine near Kaub, Germany

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle is a toll castle on the Falkenau island, otherwise known as Pfalz Island in the River Rhine near Kaub, Germany. Known as "the Pfalz", this former stronghold is famous for its picturesque and unique setting.

The Lords of Eppstein were a family of German nobility in the Middle Ages. From the 12th century they ruled extensive territories in the Rhine Main area from their castle in Eppstein, northwest of Frankfurt, Germany.

The Königssondergau was a Frankish gau (district) which existed in the area north of the confluence of the Rhine and Main rivers in Germany, from Frankish times until the end of the 12th century. Often mistakenly equated with the Rheingau, the Gau was based around the former Roman administrative district of Civitas Mattiacorum. The name Kunigessuntera is documented the first time in 819. A main court (fiscus) with senior officials were present in Wiesbaden; sub-courts existed in Biebrich and Mosbach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County of Katzenelnbogen</span> Immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire

The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed between 1095 and 1479, when it was inherited by the Landgraves of Hesse.

Walram I of Nassau, German: Walram I. von Nassau, also known as Walram I of Laurenburg, was Count of Nassau and is the oldest Nassau whose ancestorship is absolutely certain. He managed to expand his territory considerably during his reign. He took part in the Third Crusade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John V, Count of Nassau-Siegen</span> German count (1455–1516)

Count John V of Nassau-Siegen, German: Johann V. Graf von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: Graf zu Nassau, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Breda, was since 1475 Count of Nassau-Siegen and of half Diez. He descended from the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lahneck Castle</span>

Lahneck Castle is a medieval fortress located in the city of Lahnstein in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, south of Koblenz. The 13th-century castle stands on a steep rock salient above the confluence of the Lahn River with the Rhine, opposite Stolzenfels Castle, in the district of Oberlahnstein. Its symmetrical plan, an oblong rectangle, is typical of the later castles of the time of the Hohenstaufen. The pentagonal shape of the bergfried is rare for castle towers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wetterau Association of Imperial Counts</span>

Wetterau Association of Imperial Counts was an association of comital families in the Wetterau and surrounding areas. It originated in the late Middle Ages and was formally disbanded when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg</span> German landgravine (1466–1523)

Landgravine Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg, German: Elisabeth Landgräfin von Hessen-Marburg, was a landgravine from the House of Hesse-Marburg and through marriage Countess of Nassau-Siegen. She was heiress to the County of Katzenelnbogen, which after her brother's death was claimed both by her and the Landgraviate of Hesse. The legal dispute for the County of Katzenelnbogen between the House of Nassau and the House of Hesse lasted until well after her death and is known as the Katzenelnbogische Erbfolgestreit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County of Diez</span> County of the Holy Roman Empire

The County of Diez was a county of the Holy Roman Empire, centred around Grafenschloss in Diez, located in Lahngau. The county is first recorded in 1073, likely formed from the lands of the Conradine dynasty after their relocation to Swabia. The Counts of Diez gained prominence in the late twelfth century as strong supporters of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, earning it the nickname "Golden County."