Schloss Schöneck is a castle which stands on a rock outcrop in the Ehrbach Gorge in the borough of

Boppard Boppard (), formerly also spelled Boppart, is a town and municipality (since the 1976 inclusion of 9 neighbouring villages, ''Ortsbezirken'') in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UNE ...

in the Hunsrück mountains of Germany.

History

Schöneck was built around 1200 by imperial ministerialis, Conrad of Boppard, as an

imperial castle An imperial castle or ''Reichsburg'' was a castle built by order of the Holy Roman Emperor, whose management was entrusted to '' Reichsministeriales'' or ''Burgmannen''. It is not possible to identify a clear distinction between imperial castles an ...

. His descendants called themselves the lords of Schöneck and lived at the castle until they died out in 1508. The family had several lines, who lived jointly at the castle (making it a so-called ''

Ganerbenburg A ''Ganerbenburg'' (plural: ''Ganerbenburgen'') is a castle occupied and managed by several families or family lines at the same time. These families shared common areas of the castle including the courtyard, well, and chapel, whilst maintaining th ...

''). It was from Schöneck that the district known as the Gallscheider Gericht was administered. In the

Eltz Feud The Eltz Feud (german: Eltzer Fehde) was a 14th-century feud that arose between rulers of the Trier region on the Moselle and certain members of the knightly class who were acting independently and failing to support their sovereign princes. It ca ...

of 1331–1336, the castle was part of the protection and defence league of rebel knights against the

Archbishop of Trier The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' (IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

Baldwin of Luxembourg Baldwin of Luxembourg (c. 1285 – 21 January 1354) was the Archbishop- Elector of Trier and Archchancellor of Burgundy from 1307 to his death. From 1328 to 1336, he was the diocesan administrator of the archdiocese of Mainz and from 1331 to 1 ...

. The castle became an

enfeoffment In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...

of the Electorate of Trier in 1354. In 1488 Schöneck was occupied by troops of the

Count Palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

during the so-called Beilstein War (''Beilsteiner Krieg'') and, later, returned to the Electorate for a short time. From 1508 onwards, the castle changed hands several times, but remained a Trier fief-castle. Between 1560 and 1646 Schöneck became the fief of a side line of the lords of Eltz. Between 1646 and about 1677 Schöneck belonged to the so-called Sötern

fee tail In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust established by deed or settlement which restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents the property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise alien ...

, a foundation for the management of the estates of the von Sötern family. The mastermind of this arrangement was Archbishop Phillip Christopher of Sötern. After being enlarged with Baroque wings in the mid-17th century, Schöneck became known as

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 ...

Schöneck. In 1805 the site went into private hands. In the time that followed several new buildings were added. Between 1846 and 1848 a milk spa (''Molkenkuranstalt'') was operated there for a while. In 1912 the artist, Wilhelm Steinhausen, bought the site. Since 1922 it has been owned by a family foundation.

Description

Schloss Schöneck now consists mainly of buildings from the 19th and 20th century. Its medieval elements include its division into an upper and lower baileys. Medieval structures include the cellars and supporting walls, towers and part of the

enceinte Enceinte (from Latin incinctus: girdled, surrounded) is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the position. Fo ...

. On the uphill side are the remains of a

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

Literature

* Alexander Thon, Stefan Ulrich: ''"Von den Schauern der Vorwelt umweht …" Burgen und Schlösser an der Mosel''. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg, 2007, , Seite 120–123. * Jens Friedhoff: ''Schloss Schöneck. Reichsministerialensitz – Molkenkuranstalt – Forsthaus''. In: Olaf Wagener (Hrsg.): ''Die Burgen an der Mosel. Akten der 2. internationalen wissenschaftlichen Tagung in Oberfell an der Mosel''. Koblenz, 2007, pp. 109–126.

External links

www.schloss-schoeneck.de
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schloss Schoneck Schoneck, Schloss Schoneck, Schloss Schoneck, Schloss Castles in the Hunsrück 13th-century architecture