Lichtenstein Castle (german: Burg Lichtenstein) is a levelled
spur castle
A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where the spur joins the ...
on the hill of Burgberg Lichtenstein, , near the
Greifenstein
Greifenstein is a municipality 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 ...
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
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.
History
The southern district b ...
.
History
The little castle on a
hill spur
A spur is a lateral ridge or tongue of land descending from a hill, mountain or main crest of a ridge. It can also be defined as another hill or mountain range which projects in a lateral direction from a main hill or mountain range.
Examples of ...
was probably built around 1225 by the Lords of Lichtenstein, close relatives of the Lords of
Greifenstein
Greifenstein is a municipality 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 ...
. This is not, however, clear from the records, because it is unclear, whether Conrad of Lichtenstein, who is named in deeds in 1225 and 1229, also belonged to the family of the Lichtensteins in Greifenstein. Many secondary sources deduce that the castle was first built around 1250 by the brothers, Werner and Kraft of Lichtenstein. Like
Greifenstein
Greifenstein is a municipality 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 ...
, Lichtenstein was captured and destroyed in 1298 by Counts
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
of
Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
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(died 1328) and Henry of Solms-Burgsolms (died c. 1313) along with troops of the
Wetterau
The Wetterau is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mountains.
Bettina von Arnim writes of ...
imperial cities
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
, because the Greifensteins and Lichtensteins had aligned themselves with the
counter-king
An anti-king, anti king or antiking (german: Gegenkönig; french: antiroi; cs, protikrál) is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch. OED "Anti-, ...
, Albert of Habsburg and against King Adolphus of Nassau, and because they, at least in the eyes of the Nassaus and Solmses, had acted like robber barons.
Unlike Greifenstein Castle, Lichtenstein was never rebuilt and the Lichtensteins probably lived on a farmstead in nearby Wallendorf (today part of Beilstein). The ruins of their castle continued to remain in their possession, but then finally went to Kraft of Rodenhausen in 1360 through his marriage to Irmgard, the heiress of Wittekind of Lichtenstein, Wittekind being the last male in the family line. Kraft sold the castle hill together with its ruins and the rest of the estate to Count John of Nassau-Hadamar (died 1365).
In 1395 the Burgberg and ruins of Lichtenstein came into the possession of the Count of Solms. John II of Solms-Burgsolms, known as "Springsleben" (died 1405) who, since the destruction of his own castle in Burgsolms in 1384 by the
Wetterau
The Wetterau is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mountains.
Bettina von Arnim writes of ...
federation of the imperial cities of
Wetzlar
Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...
Gelnhausen
Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig. It is one o ...
resided at the rebuilt Greifenstein Castle, and his son, John III (died 1415), the last of the line of Solms-Burgsolms, acquired it in March 1395 from Count
Philip I of Nassau-Saarbrücken-Weilburg
Count Philipp I of Nassau-Weilburg (1368 – 2 July 1429) was Count of Nassau in Weilburg, Count of Saarbrücken and Seigneur of Commercy ''Château bas'' in 1371–1429.
Biography
Philipp was a son of John I, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (1309 â ...
together with other estates, which Philip had bought in 1363 from Kraft of Rodenhausen and his wife, Irmgard of Lichtenstein.Solms-Laubach, p. 41.
Today
Of the old castle only the remains of 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 below the hill plateau and a few wall remnants may be seen.
Tourism
From the exit to the village of Greifenstein, the Three Castles Route (''Drei-Burgen-Wanderung'') runs through Greifenstein Land for 11 km past the ruins of Lichtenstein Castle to Beilstein and back. The path is waymarked with a black shield and a white, stylised silhouette of Greifenstein Castle. On the way out it runs along the High Road and Trompeters Loch, above the Ulm Reservoir to Beilstein. The return leg runs past the Straubersberg (425 m) and back to Greifenstein.
References
Literature
*
* Rudolf Knappe: ''Mittelalterliche Burgen in Hessen: 800 Burgen, Burgruinen und Burgstätten.'' 3. Auflage. Wartberg-Verlag. Gudensberg-Gleichen, 2000, {{ISBN, 3-86134-228-6, p. 292.