Marksburg Castle

Almost every castle on the Middle Rhine was destroyed, mostly by French forces in the seventeenth century, and rebuilt in the nineteenth in romantic style. The Marksburg above Braubach was never taken and never demolished, so what stands is genuine medieval and early modern fabric rather than reconstruction; of the forty hill castles between Bingen and Koblenz it is one of only two never destroyed, with Burg Maus, and the only one that never fell into disrepair. Rooms shown include a kitchen, a great hall, a chapel, a herb garden of medieval plants and an armoury tracing armour development. It has been owned by the German Castles Association since 1900, which has its headquarters there. UNESCO listed the Upper Middle Rhine Valley in 2002.

History

The "noble freemen of Braubach" built a fortification around 1117 to protect the town and its tolls, and a castle on the hill is first mentioned in 1231, held by the Lords of Eppstein; the oldest datable parts, the base of the keep and the lower hall, date by their timbers from 1239, though foundations of a Romanesque chapel found in 2014 suggest an earlier complex. The Eppsteins died out in 1283 and the Counts of Katzenelnbogen inherited it, building most of the present castle in the 14th century and, around 1340, the Gothic chapel of St Mark that gave it its name; after their line ended in 1429 the Landgraves of Hesse added artillery bastions and round towers. Napoleon gave it to the Duke of Nassau, who used it as a prison and a home for disabled soldiers, it passed to Prussia in 1866, and in 1900 it was sold for a symbolic 1,000 Goldmarks to the German Castles Association, founded a year before, which has had its head office here since 1931 (Wikipedia, Marksburg).

The main sights

• The unrebuilt fabric - genuine medieval work, unique on this stretch of river.
• The kitchen and hall - furnished rooms showing castle life.
• The herb garden - medieval plants including some poisonous ones, labelled.
• The armoury - a sequence showing armour development over centuries.

When to go

April to October; the castle is open year-round with reduced winter hours. Entry is guided-only in fixed groups. The climb from Braubach is steep.

Good to know

Visits are guided-only on a set route with no free wandering. The climb up is steep, though a shuttle runs. Groups can be large in season.

Nearby

Koblenz lies downstream; Boppard is upstream.

Key facts