![Wilhelmsturm Dillenburg Luftbild](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Wilhelmsturm_Dillenburg_Luftbild.jpg)
Castle Dillenburg, in the provincial town of
Dillenburg
Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen (region), Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis.
The town lies on the German-N ...
in
Hesse-Nassau
The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944.
Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the p ...
, is situated on a hill (elevation 958 feet) above the Dill river, 25 miles northwest from
Gießen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
on the Giessen-
Troisdorf
Troisdorf () is a city in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis (district), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Troisdorf is located approximately 22 kilometers south of Cologne and 13 kilometers north east of Bonn.
Division of the city
Troisdorf consi ...
railway line.
The main building of the old castle was deconstructed in 1760 after suffering fire from cannon damage in the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
. Today the hill above the town still has the ruins of the 17th-century fortifications of the old schloss Dillenburg, but nothing at all remains of the original fortifications, which were mostly wood. It was founded by
Count Henry the Rich of Nassau, about the year 1240, and later became the birthplace of
Prince William of Orange
William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from ...
in 1533. Due to the effects of the
Protestant reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, in the town below is the (since 1530) Evangelical church but formerly Johanniskirche from 1491, with the vault of the princes of Nassau-Dillenburg.
Wilhelmsturm
![Wilhelmsturm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wilhelmsturm.jpg)
In 1872
Princess Marianne, the daughter of
King Willem I, helped finance the creation of a new lookout tower, Wilhelmsturm, which also houses the Oranje-Nassaumuseum. The museum commemorates
William the Silent
William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...
who plotted his rebellion against the Spanish Netherlands from his home on this spot.
The tower is an area landmark and is one of the points along the
Orange Route The Orange Route ( nl, Oranje-Route, german: Oranier-Route) is a holiday route, that runs from Amsterdam in the Netherlands through North and Central Germany and returns to Amsterdam. It is 2,400 kilometres long and crosses the Netherlands and nine ...
and
Rothaarsteig
The Rothaarsteig is a 154.80 km long hiking trail along the crest of the Rothaargebirge mountain range in Germany in the border region between the states of North Rhine-Westphalia (NW) and Hesse (HE). It was opened in 2001.
Overview
Th ...
.
References
External links
Dillenburg museum website
{{coord, 50.7383, 8.2853, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title
Castles in Hesse
House of Orange-Nassau