Burg Lahneck

History

Burg Lahneck resides high atop a rocky hill at the confluence of the River Lahn and River Rhine. It was begun in 1226 by the Archbishop of Mainz, Siegfried III of Eppstein, to protect the mouth of the Lahn, his territory, and the nearby silver mine, and it was originally called Burg Logenecke or Loynecke. Until 1803, it was the northernmost exclave of Mainz.

The castle chapel, dedicated to St. Ulrich, was built in 1245, the year the castle and its burgrave, Embricho von Lahneck, are first mentioned. In 1298, King Adolf of Nassau was a guest at the castle before his defeat and death at the Battle of Göllheim, and in 1332, Pope John XXII granted a 40-day indulgence to visitors to the chapel. In 1338, Archbishop Heinrich III of Virneburg attended the electors' assembly at Rhens from the castle, which led to the Kurverein zu Rhense. After 1365, the name changed from Loynecke to Lahneck, after the river. On August 20th, 1400, the electors meeting at Lahneck declared King Wenzel deposed, and the next day, Ruprecht of the Palatinate was elected king at Rhens.

The castle chapel.

According to legend, the Knights Templar were ordered to disband by Pope Clement V in 1312. This led to the last twelve Templars taking refuge within Burg Lahneck, where they perished in a fight to the death against the overwhelming forces of the Archbishop of Mainz, Peter of Aspelt.

In 1475, Archbishop Dieter von Isenburg fortified the castle by adding a thick second wall with a Zwinger, three round shell towers, the Fuchsturm, and a square gate tower on the side most vulnerable to attack.

In 1632 and 1636, Burg Lahneck was attacked and damaged by Swedish and Imperial troops during the Thirty Years' War, and it lost its importance afterward. In 1688, French troops set fire to the last roofs during the War of the Palatine Succession, and in 1803, the ruin passed to the Duchy of Nassau. On July 18th, 1774, the writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, traveling with Lavater and Basedow, stopped at Lahnstein and wrote the poem Geistesgruß in view of the castle, a precursor to a song in Faust.

The inner courtyard.

In 1850, the Scottish railway entrepreneur Edward Moriarty bought the ruin, and the neo-Gothic reconstruction began in 1852. In 1864, Gustav Göde took over the work. Count Ewald von Kleist bought the castle in 1878 for his wife Anna, who died there in 1892, and in 1893, a Magdeburg manufacturer named Hauswald became the owner.

In 1907, Burg Lahneck was purchased by Robert Mischke, a frigate captain and later a vice admiral in the Imperial Navy, whose family still owns the castle today. In 1936-1938, the romantic battlements and flat roofs were removed and partly replaced with pointed roofs.

Castle Highlights

Burg Lahneck is privately owned and open to the public from April through the beginning of November, except for Mondays. Its pentagon-shaped bergfried or central keep is rare for German castles and stands about 29 meters high, with its pointed end facing south toward the side most open to attack. Burg Lahneck consists of massive outer walls concerning height and thickness, thereby protecting the inner courtyard.

The view from the keep over Lahnstein and the Rhine.

Primary elements of the castle include a chapel, keep, residential buildings, and an inner shield wall with corner towers. Visiting interior portions of Burg Lahneck is only permitted via guided tour, which lasts about 40 minutes and includes the keep, and parts of the first floor are still lived in. Moreover, a restaurant is outside the castle walls just beyond the west gate. Visitors may go atop the keep to experience breathtaking views of the River Rhine. In addition, Schloss Stolzenfels is visible on the opposite bank of the River Rhine, and the castle takes part in the "Rhine in Flames" fireworks in August. Candle-light tours are arranged through the Lahnstein tourist information office.

Burg Lahneck can be thoroughly visited within a couple of hours. The Marksburg is nearby via B42, a few miles from Lahneck, and worth a visit for castle lovers and curious tourists alike.

Burg Lahneck is also haunted.