The Marksburg is a castle above the town of
Braubach
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 por ...
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
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...
the Marksburg was one of only two which had never been destroyed (the other being
Maus Castle
Maus Castle (german: Burg Maus, meaning ''Mouse Castle'') is a castle above the village of Wellmich (part of Sankt Goarshausen) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies on the east side of the Rhine, north of Katz Castle (''Cat Castle'') in San ...
) and at least the only one that had never fallen into disrepair.
History
Middle Ages
A stone
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
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. In 1283, Count Eberhard of
Katzenelnbogen
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'' ("collective municipality") Aar-Einrich.
History
Katzenelnboge ...
bought it and throughout the 14th and 15th century the high noble counts rebuilt the castle constantly.
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.
19th century
The French emperor
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
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
The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
of 1866 the Duchy of Nassau became a territory of
Prussia, which took ownership of the Marksburg.
Modern era
In 1900, the castle was sold for a symbolic price of 1,000 Goldmarks to the
German Castles Association (''Deutschen Burgenvereinigung''),
MS-visucom.de
/ref> 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, after the owner of the castle declined to demolish the original and rebuild it in Japan.
Notes
Sources
*
External links
Official site
Castles in Rhineland-Palatinate
Museums in Rhineland-Palatinate
Historic house museums in Germany
Hill castles
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