Germany · 12th century
The Boosenburg is a lowland castle in Rüdesheim am Rhein, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, Hesse, Germany, located in the Rhine valley and dating back to the 12th century. It is locally known as Oberburg (upper castle) in relation to the near and slightly lower Brömserburg. It has been part of the Rhine Gorge World Heritage Site from 2002.
The castle was probably built at the end of the 12th century as the family seat for the knight, Lord Fuchs of Rüdesheim, as a square building surrounding a very high, double stepped bergfried, protected by a rampart and moat. In late medieval times, additional living quarters were added. In 1407, the castle was left to the Brömser von Rüdesheim noble family. From 1474 to 1830, it belonged to the Boos von Waldeck noble family.
After the counts of Schönborn-Wiesntheid became owners in 1830, they tore down in 1836 all the buildings apart from the bergfried, which they built even higher, adding Gothic Revival merlons. The next owner, wine merchant Baptist Sturm, transformed the moat to a vaulted wine cellar. His widow erected a Gothic Revival villa, designed by Philipp Hoffmann, and completed in 1872.
The castle has belonged to a winery, Weinkellerei Carl Jung, from 1938. The musical family has arranged chamber music concerts in their residence. Carl's son, Hans Otto Jung, a founding member of the jazz group Hotclub Combo in the 1940s, played there with notable musicians on two Steinway pianos. His son, Edu Jung, also active as a jazz musician, opened the venue also for concerts of the Volkshochschule (VHS, folk high school).
In 2002, Boosenburg became part of the World Heritage Site of the Rhine Gorge.
Text adapted from “Boosenburg” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Boosenburg ranks #7,528 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #668 of the 711 mapped in Germany. Founded c. 1175, it is older than 79% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. 24 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Wiesbaden, 26 km away. It is one of the 39 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Middle Rhine. It is stop 1 of 32 on the Rhine castle route, Bingen to Koblenz. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.
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