Castle Rheineck

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Aerial view of the castle Rheineck, View from the southeast

The Rheineck Castle is a hilltop castle in Bad Breisig district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate. Its roots lie in a medieval building from the 11th century. The castle was the center of the castle county Rheineck.

Location

The castle stands on the left bank of the Rhine in the Middle Rhine Valley very close to Vinxtbach. He parted in Roman times, the Roman provinces of Upper and Lower Germany and the Moselle River and Ripuarian francs. In the Middle Ages there adjoined the lands of the Electorate of Trier and the Electorate of Cologne.

History

The Rhenish Palatinate Counts built the castle in the 11th century. Count Otto von Salm was called in the 12th century as the first " Count of Rheineck ". After the destruction of the castle in 1151 by King Konrad III. , Looked at the Archbishop of Cologne and simultaneous chancellor Rainald of Dassel Rheineck addition to the Cologne possessions Andernach and Rhense as an important pillar of his dominion and wanted to build the castle as Kölnisches possession again. To forestall the claims to power and area expansion plans of derweiligen Count Palatine Conrad of Hohenstaufen, Rainald ordered the rapid occupation of the mountain and the reconstruction of the castle.

He was thus able to prevent a civil war, as his deputy and later successor Philip I of Heinberg brought to his instructions the then immense number of 125,000 men for an expected battle against troops of the Count Palatine together. On May 18, 1164 enemy soldiers faced each other at a few kilometers south of Burg Rheineck town of Andernach. The contemporary Cologne King Chronicle noted at this date: This year, as Count Palatine Conrad, brother of the Emperor, with the request in the Cologne diocese invade and plunder wanted and intended to occupy the mountain, which is called Rheineck, ordered the Cologne Chosen Reinold who was with the Emperor in Italy, by familiar to the faithful messenger of the Cologne church, take the mountain before. As the Count Palatine realized that you beat him to it, he announced a war against the people of Cologne, and indeed for May 18 at the level at Andernach. By mobilizing the Cologne prelates Rider squadrons and Fußvölker, and ships came together in support of the army. There were about 125,000 warriors. Why does not the Count Palatine nor anyone dared to approach, as they were waiting for his arrival for 12 days. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa gave three weeks after the battle took place and not prevented his chancellor Rainald of Dassel due to immense and innumerable merits, the village Dairago in the province of Milan. These came as a gift villas and castles as well as the bones of the three kings of the conquered Milan.

Around 1180 probably the knights of elms was invested with the castle Rheineck, which took the name of Rheineck soon. With the extinction of the family of Rheineck In 1539, the castle county (from 1576 ) came to the barons of Warsberg, which they sold in 1654 to the Austrian Count of Sinzendorf, the extinct 1822.

The construction of the castle Rheineck was on the old plan using old buildings in the 1830s. After repeated destruction of the Bonn University professor and later Prussian Minister Moritz August von Bethmann Hollweg acquired the castle in 1832 and left her by Johann Claudius von Lassaulx rebuild. The newly built chapel, which follows in outline and in the exterior design of the original Torkapelle of the 12th century, was painted by Edward von Steinle in 1838. Parts of the ring walls are from the Middle Ages still get the mighty donjon, with its square plan and the gate to the entrance way.

The castle was purchased by the current owner Kai Krause in 2000. He restored it fundamentally.

Visit to the Castle

A visit to the castle is not possible, only the access on the mountainside until the gate is possible. This is also part of a designated trail. You can see the castle from there, however, due to many high trees do not.