Regenstein Castle (german: Burg Regenstein) is a ruined castle that lies three kilometres north of

Blankenburg Blankenburg may refer to: Places * Blankenburg am Harz, a German town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt * Blankenburg Castle (Harz), the castle in Blankenburg am Harz (see above) * Bad Blankenburg, a German town in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt dis ...

in the German state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...

. It is a popular tourist destination where, each year, a knight's tournament and a garrison festival are held. Of this once relatively impregnable castle, which was built in the early and high Middle Ages on a 294 metre high sandstone rock towering over the surrounding area, only ruins are visible today. Several internal rooms, carved into the rock, have survived, as have the ruins of the keep. The castle is surrounded by remnants of a more recent fortress. Regenstein Castle is No. 80 in the system of checkpoints on the ''

Harzer Wandernadel The Harzer Wandernadel is a system of hiking awards in the Harz mountains in central Germany. The hiker (or mountain biker) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping his or ...

'' hiking trail network. Below the castle is the site of the old Regenstein Mill that used to supply it with water.

Castle of the Regenstein counts

in 1162 the ''Comes de Regenstein'' (

Count of Regenstein Regenstein, also ''Reinstein'', was a Lower Saxon noble family, which was named after the eponymous Regenstein Castle near Blankenburg on the edge of the Harz Mountains of central Germany. History In 1162 ''Cunradus Comes de Regenstein'' (Conr ...

), Conrad, was mentioned for the first time. He was the son of Count

Poppo I of Blankenburg Poppo I of Blankenburg (c. 1095–1161 or 1164) probably came from the House of Reginbodonen and was Count of Regenstein-Blankenburg in the Harz in central Germany. His father was Conrad, Count of Blankenburg. His uncle, Reinhard of Blankenburg ...

from the House of Reginbodonen). The castle became renowned mainly through Count Albert II of Regenstein (1310-1349) who, in the 1330s, had frequent disputes with the rulers of the surrounding towns, the

Bishop of Halberstadt The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese (german: Bistum Halberstadt) from 804 until 1648.

and the Abbess of Quedlinburg. This has been romantically recounted in the ballad, ''Der Raubgraf'' ("The Robber Count"), by

Gottfried August Bürger Gottfried August Bürger (31 December 1747 – 8 June 1794) was a German poet. His ballads were very popular in Germany. His most noted ballad, '' Lenore'', found an audience beyond readers of the German language in an English and Russian ad ...

(music by

Johann Philipp Kirnberger Johann Philipp Kirnberger (also ''Kernberg''; 24 April 1721, Saalfeld – 27 July 1783, Berlin) was a musician, composer (primarily of fugues), and music theorist. He was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach. According to Ingeborg Allihn, Kirnber ...

) and the novel by Julius Wolff (''Der Raubgraf''). In the 15th century, the Regenstein counts moved to Blankenburg Castle. Regenstein fell into disrepair and became a ruin. The last male descendant of the noble family, Count John Ernest of Regenstein in 1599.
In 1643 after several changes of ownership Regenstein, which was sometimes written as ''Rheinstein'' or ''Reinstein'', was

enfeoffed 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 ...

by Archduke Leopold William of Austria in his capacity as

Bishop of Halberstadt The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese (german: Bistum Halberstadt) from 804 until 1648.

to the

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (german: Niederbayern, Bavarian: ''Niedabayern'') is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions () – Landshut and Donau- ...

n count, William of Tattenbach. From then on members of this noble family went under the title of "Count of Reinstein-Tattenbach". In 1671 John Erasmus, Count of Reinstein-Tattenbach was beheaded in Austria for being party to the

magnate conspiracy The Magnate conspiracy, also known as the Zrinski- Frankopan Conspiracy ( hr, Zrinsko-frankopanska urota) in Croatia, and Wesselényi conspiracy ( hu, Wesselényi-összeesküvés) in Hungary, was a 17th-century attempt to throw off Habsburg ...

, following which Prince-Elector

Frederick William of Brandenburg Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...

confiscated the county.

Prussian fort

From 1671 the medieval castle was expanded into a fortress by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

ns, who were the last users of its military function. The original castle occupies only a small part of the greater fortification. In 1677 the fort became a garrison. The length of its outer perimeter was extended in 1742 to 1,200 metres. Even under the French, to whom the fortress had to be handed over on 12 September 1757, it was extended structurally. The Prussians captured it five months later (12 February 1758) and rendered the position unusable. The powder magazine, which was located near the top was blown up. Of the fortress only the casemate, those facilities carved out of the rock and the (now restored) gateway remain. A characteristic of the fortress is the large number of cavernous rooms in the natural rock (one now houses an exhibition of archaeological finds from the castle site). Even the stables were hewn out of the rock. After 1758, the pastures and forests of the Regenstein went to the Prussian '' Amt'' of

Westerhausen Westerhausen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 September 2010, it is part of the town Thale Thale () is a town in the Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany. Located a ...

. From 1815 to 1945, following the reign of Westphalia (1807-1813, Canton Halberstadt Land), Regenstein became the smallest Prussian exclave and belonged to the district of Halberstadt. Today it is part of the town of Blankenburg.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

visited the Regenstein on 11 September 1784 together with the artist, Georg Melchior Kraus, on his third trip to the Harz (8 August to 14 September 1784) to conduct geological studies (two drawings and a rock sample from Goethe's collection of rocks recall that visit). The first restaurant was opened in 1812, thus beginning the rock's role as a tourist attraction.

The legend of the Regenstein

According to legend, once upon a time one of the most beautiful young women in the land was imprisoned in the dungeon of Regenstein Castle, because she had spurned the love of the Count of Regenstein. Using a diamond ring she scratched a hole in the rock, which became so large after a year that she was able to crawl through and escape. After her escape, she returned with her family to the castle, but the count had fled. A little later, she noticed thick smoke gushing from a crack in a rock wall. When she looked through it, she saw the count in purgatory. Then, out of pity, she threw him her ring to him in order to enable the spirit of the count to rest.''Die Regenstein-Sage''
at harzlife.de. Retrieved 22 January 2022.

References

Sources

* Steinhoff, R. (1883). ''Der Regenstein'', Blankenburg: A. Brüggemann. * Bürger, K. (1905). ''Der Regenstein bei Blankenburg/Harz - seine Geschichte und Beschreibung seiner Ruinen'', Braunschweig: E. Appelhans * Wedler, H. and Dülsner, E. (1967). ''Die Burgruine Regenstein'', Leipzig, Jena, Berlin: Urania-Verlag, 7th ed. * Behrens, Heinz A. (1989). ''Der Regenstein - Besiedlung und Geschichte der Grafen bis 1500'', Blankenburg: Burg- und Festung Regenstein (ed.) * Behrens, Heinz A. and Reimann, J. (1992). ''Der Regenstein Baugeschichte und Festungszeit'', Blankenburg: Burg- und Festung Regenstein (ed.) * Woltereck, K. ''Der Regenstein am Harz - Eine deutsche Trutzburg aus vorgeschichtlichen und geschichtlichen Zeiten'', Gernrode: Carl Mittag, o.J.

External links