Ehrenfels Castle (Hesse)

Ehrenfels Castle (German: Burg Ehrenfels) is a ruined hillside castle above the Rhine Gorge near the town of Rüdesheim am Rhein in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the steep eastern bank of the river amid extended vineyards. The grape variety Ehrenfelser is named after the castle.

It was (re-)built about 1212 at the behest of the Archbishop of Mainz as a defensive work against the constant attacks by Elector Palatine Henry V, who, as Imperial vicar of Franconia, strived to cut down the archbishop's reach. Mainz staffed the castle with Burgmannen and erected a customs post controlling the shipping on the Rhine, supplemented by the Mouse Tower below at the river. Heavily damaged in the course of the Thirty Years' War, the castle was finally devastated by French troops under the command of Lieutenant General Nicolas Chalon du Blé during the 1689 Siege of Mainz.

The ruin can be reached from Rüdesheim via a hiking trail through the vineyards. The interior however can only be visited in guided tours by prior appointment.

www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/castles/ehrenfels.php

Text adapted from “Ehrenfels Castle (Hesse)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ehrenfels Castle (Hesse) ranks #3,623 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #283 of the 505 mapped in Germany. Founded 1212, it is older than 76% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 861 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,495 times in the last 60 days, more than 72% of the atlas. 22 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Wiesbaden, 28 km away. It is one of the 33 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Middle Rhine. It is stop 4 of 27 on the Rhine castle route, Bingen to Koblenz. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

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