Idstein Castle (german: Burg Idstein), later the

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

Schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cognate ...

Idstein'', is located in

Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'' ...

in the county of

Rheingau-Taunus Rheingau-Taunus is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis is part of the Darmstadt region; its main administrative seat is Bad Schwalbach. Outposted sections of the local administration are located in Idstein and ...

, Germany. The

hill castle A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles ...

was the ''

residenz Residenz () is a German word for "place of living", now obsolete except in the formal sense of an official residence. A related term, Residenzstadt, denotes a city where a sovereign ruler resided, therefore carrying a similar meaning as the modern ...

'' of the counts of Nassau-Idstein. The castle's

Witches' Tower Witch tower or Witches' Tower (german: Hexenturm) is a common name or description in English and other European languages for a tower that was part of a medieval town wall or castle, often used as a prison or dungeon. History The name is derive ...

(''Hexenturm'') is one of the town's oldest buildings and a substantial local landmark.

History

The original castle of Idstein was built around 1170 on a rocky ridge in the centre of the Old Town. Within the

inner bailey The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...

, only the

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German ...

, the old district courthouse, the 15th century gatehouse and the

palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval ''Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson, ...

have survived from the castle. In the early 17th century, during the time of Prince George Augustus Samuel of Nassau-Idstein, a

schloss was built on the site of the

outer ward An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary buil ...

. Its

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

interior was completed around 1714. The architect was

Maximilian von Welsch Johann Maximilian von Welsch (1671 – 15 October 1745) was a German architect, construction director and fortress master builder. Life Maximilian von Welsch is regarded as a prominent representative of baroque fortress building in the Holy Roman ...

, the stucco work, especially in the so-called Emperor Chamber (''Kaisergemach''), was carried out by Carlo Maria Pozzi. The ceiling paintings and other paintings were by Valentin David Albrecht and

Luca Antonio Colomba Luca Antonio Colomba (1674–1737) was a Swiss Baroque painter born at Arogno. His style was distinguished for its happy compositions and its careful design, as also for the delicate and tender colours. He painted in oil and fresco. He was the s ...

. In 1905 the schloss became a Convalescent Home for Members of the Royal Prussian Army.''Schloss''
Bei: ''alt-idstein.info'', retrieved 27 July 2014 The upper bailey was demolished and the bergfried was nicknamed ''Hexenturm'' (Witches' Tower) in the 19th century. There were

witch trials in the early modern period Witch trials in the early modern period saw that between 1400 to 1782, around 40,000 to 60,000 were killed due to suspicion that they were practicing witchcraft. Some sources estimate that a total of 100,000 trials occurred at its maximum for a s ...

in Idstein, but these substantially predate the name of this landmark. It is unlikely that anyone was ever accused or imprisoned in the tower for witchcraft. The nickname became widespread around 1900 with the publication of ''Die Pfarrfrau von Heftrich'' by . The ''Hexenturm'' became the landmark of Idstein. At the base of the tower is a plaque in memory of the victims of the witch trials of 1676, listing the names of 31 women and 8 menWitch trial victims memorial, Idstein
markcz.com, retrieved 27 October 2014 killed at the end of the rule of

John, Count of Nassau-Idstein Count John of Nassau-Idstein (born 24 November 1603 in Saarbrücken; died: 23 May 1677 in Idstein) was Count of Nassau and Protestant Regent of Idstein. Life His parents were Louis II, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (1565–1627) and his wife, Landgr ...

. After the First World War, French soldiers were housed in the schloss during the French occupation. In the Second World War, the schloss acted as a military hospital for reserves. Today the castle houses the Idstein Pestalozzi Gymnasium. Both schloss and bergfried may be visited on request. A 20-metre-long stone bridge spans the

neck ditch A neck ditch (german: Halsgraben), sometimes called a throat ditch,
at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry

between the

outer {{Short pages monitor Castles in Hesse Renaissance architecture in Germany Buildings and structures in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Hill castles