Burg Bischofstein
History
Burg Bischofstein is perched on a steep slate spur above the west bank of the River Moselle in Germany. Known for its distinctive tower with a white plaster ring, it played a strategic role in controlling the Moselle crossings and the Baybach valley. It is currently used as a school retreat.
Archbishop Arnold II of Trier is traditionally credited with beginning the construction of Burg Bischofstein in the 1250s, although this is doubtful, and some sources place the building later, around 1270. The Archdeacon of Trier, Heinrich von Bolanden, bought the half-finished castle, completed it at his own expense, and, on September 11th, 1273, gave it to the Trier cathedral chapter, keeping a lifelong right of residence. The castle remained a stronghold of the Archbishops of Trier, who held it through the 14th and 15th centuries and granted it as a fief. In 1303, the holder gave Archbishop Peter von Nassau the right to use the castle in wartime, and in 1329, Heinrich von Pfaffendorf promised to guard the Moselle crossings for the archbishop. The last known holder, in 1501, was Friedrich, Count Palatine of the Rhine.
The castle on its rocky spur above the Moselle.
The castle escaped being damaged during the Thirty Years' War. However, in 1688, during the War of the Grand Alliance, Louis XIV of France sent in troops to weaken the Palatinate after it refused to ratify the Truce of Regensburg. In 1689, French troops destroyed Burg Bischofstein, and its wooden parapet burned. After French revolutionary troops seized church property in 1794, the ruin passed into private hands.
On September 29th, 1803, the government of Napoleon Bonaparte auctioned off the castle and three hectares of land to the winemaker, Nicolaus Artz, with the proceeds going to the French treasury. By 1824, a house with seven residents stood on the site, and the Bienen family of Rheinberg owned the ruin by 1880.
The castle seen from across the Moselle.
In 1930, the castle ruins were purchased by the Darmstadt merchant Erich Deku, who began to rebuild the castle as a holiday residence, reusing the surviving walls, and built an access road that partly had to be blasted out of the rock. He went bankrupt in 1936, and the Neuerburg family of Trier, who bought the castle at auction, completed the rebuilding in 1938. From 1941 to 1946, the castle served as a convalescent home for soldiers, a hospital, and a refugee shelter. Burg Bischofstein was sold in 1954 to the association of the Fichte-Gymnasium in Krefeld, the Association for the Promotion of the School Camp Burg Bischofstein, and it now serves as a school camp.
In 1995, the chapel was renovated in a medieval style, and in 1997, the tower was renovated, the battlements were reinforced, and the tower platform was rebuilt. A wooden staircase was added so visitors could access the top of the tower. An infestation of house borers found in 2012 led to another extensive renovation of the castle.
Castle Highlights
Burg Bischofstein is built on three terraces, with the 20-25 meter high tower rising from the top terrace. The tower's white plaster ring is the surviving remnant of a plaster coat that weathered away over the centuries, and local legends explain it as a gallows warning to robbers or as a flood mark. There was once a wooden parapet atop the tower, which was destroyed by fire in 1689.
The tower with its white plaster ring.
On the south edge of the rock formation stands the castle chapel, which was rebuilt in the Gothic style after it was partially destroyed. The Pallas is located on the north end of the castle, and a ring wall surrounds the entire complex. Today, the castle is a listed monument, but as an example of 1930s reconstruction rather than an 800-year-old castle.
The castle is used as a retreat for school groups. Still, the tower is sometimes open on weekends to visitors and occasionally on special days, such as "Tag de offenen Burg" (Open Castle Day) in spring and the Open Monument Day in autumn, where the castle is open to visitors and conducts guided tours. Hiking trails, including the Moselsteig, pass the castle, and there is parking at the B416 by the ferry landing opposite Burgen, with a footpath through a railway underpass to the castle.
Burg Eltz is close enough to visit the same day. You should start at Eltz and spend most of the day there, before visiting Burg Bischofstein. You may also want to call ahead to make sure Bischofstein is open to visitors on the day of your visit.
