Burg Katz
Burg Neukatzenelnbogen
History
Burg Katz resides atop a protruding hilltop between the Rhine Valley and Forstbach Valley overlooking the River Rhine above St. Goarshausen. Burg Neukatzenelnbogen was constructed around 1371 by Count Wilhelm II of Katzenelnbogen, and its chapel was consecrated that year. It served as a toll castle and protected St. Goarshausen, which a wall connected to the castle.
The Counts of Katzenelnbogen served as a powerful family who controlled Burg Rheinfels and other castles along the Rhine. Just down the River Rhine, the Archbishop of Trier built Burg Deuernburg in 1356. Shifting power and antagonism between respective castle owners, Counts of Katzenelnbogen, and Archbishop of Trier fueled much hostility. The "cat and mouse game" between them inevitably resulted in the assignment of nicknames to castles that are still popular today. This is clearly illustrated by Burg Katz (Cat) for Burg Neukatzenelnbogen and Burg Maus (Mouse) for Burg Deuernburg. According to legend, Count Wilhelm remarked that his cat would snap up this mouse without much trouble. Count Johann expanded the castle in 1395. Following the death of the last remaining Count, Philipp I of Katzenelnbogen, in 1479, the castle passed to Landgraves of Hesse.
Burg Katz, with its keep and great hall.
At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, a massive siege in 1626 was undertaken at Burg Katz and Burg Rheinfels due to a struggle between the Houses of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Darmstadt. The 33-day siege lasted from July 21st to August 24th, 1626, and was one of the most important military events the Rhine River experienced. Two batteries continuously bombarded Burg Katz. Verdugo led his Spaniards five times against the castle, and they repelled five times. Both castles showed enormous devastation. For Burg Katz, the roof of the high tower and the commander's apartment, hit by glowing bullets, had burned down to the masonry. A courier arrived from Kassel with the instruction to avoid further useless bloodshed and to evacuate the fortresses, which were only ruins, provided the garrisons were granted an honorable withdrawal. On September 3rd, 1626, the peace pact was concluded, and the next day the regiment at Burg Katz left the scene of their heroic deeds in all honors "with loud drums, flying flags, burning fuses and bullets in their mouths." During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was also converted into an artillery fortress with casemates and bastion-like structures, and another siege in 1647 caused further damage.
Burg Katz above St. Goarshausen and the Rhine.
In 1692, Burg Rheinfels across the River Rhine was attacked by 28,000 French soldiers. As a result, Burg Katz also suffered damage from French artillery fire during the attack on Rheinfels. The French returned nearly seven decades later, in 1758, to launch an attack against Burg Rheinfels. Due to its deteriorated condition, the castle was surrendered without much fighting. Burg Katz was also attacked. The garrison within Burg Katz, led by Captain von Ende, bravely fought for three days until their ammunition was exhausted. The French held the castle until 1763, when they returned it.
Burg Katz on its hilltop above the Rhine.
In 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the castle destroyed as part of efforts to neutralize fortifications along the Rhine, and a French pioneer unit blew it up, reducing it to ruins. By 1816, it belonged to the Duchy of Nassau, and the ruins had several owners until 1896 when Landrat Ferdinand Berg purchased it. He rebuilt it as a residence by 1898, with the architects Emil Schreiterer and Bernhard Below and advice from the castle researcher Bodo Ebhardt, based upon drawings by Dilich from 1607. The castle was auctioned in 1928, and in 1936, the Reich Labor Service took it over as a training facility. After 1945, it housed a school and boarding school until 1966, and then a recreation center until fire safety violations closed it in 1987. In 1989, the Japanese buyer Satoshi Kosugi purchased Burg Katz for 4.3 million Deutsche Marks, intending to open a hotel, but the plan never happened. Since 1989, Burg Katz has been under private ownership, and since 2002, it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley.
Castle Highlights
Burg Katz from the ridge beside the castle, with the Rhine behind it.
Today, the castle consists primarily of a great hall and bergfried or keep that initially rose to 40 meters (approximately 131 feet) in height. The keep has six floors connected by an internal staircase, with a watchroom at the top, and it served as the final refuge during sieges. The castle has an irregular hexagonal plan, with thick ring walls of local dark stone and three corner towers on the Rhine side, and a round bulwark tower guards the point most vulnerable to attack from the overhanging rock. A winding path and a vaulted passage flanked by two slender towers lead to the gatehouse, which forces attackers to take a detour that exposes them to the defenders. While the fortification is privately owned and not open to the public, a spectacular view may be attained from the village of St. Goar across the River Rhine.
In addition, picturesque sights are possible from Dreiburgenblick above St. Goarshausen, situated on the hill across the valley from the castle as pictured above. A trail from St. Goarshausen leads to the castle's outer gates in about 20 minutes. The closest castle open to the public is Burg Rheinfels, which may be reached via a car ferry that crosses the River Rhine between St. Goarshausen and St. Goar.
