Germany · 12th century
Metternich Castle is an ancient castle in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is also known as the Beilstein Castle (Burg Beilstein), being within the municipal bounds of in Beilstein, Rhineland-Palatinate.
The castle, now in ruins, is located in the municipality of Beilstein on the river Moselle.
The history of the castle goes back to 1268 when the castle (referred to as Bilstein Castle) was first mentioned. It is thought the castle is even older, with some historians indicating 1129 as the year of construction.
Until the first half of 17th century, the castle was owned by Counts von Nassau-Dillenburg. In 1637, the castle became the property of the House of Metternich, hence its current name, Metternich Castle. The last member of the family to own the castle was Klemens von Metternich, one of the most famous diplomats of the Austrian Empire – he was foreign minister from 1809 to 1848.
In 1689, during the Nine Years' War, the castle was destroyed by French troops.
Text adapted from “Metternich Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Metternich Castle ranks #2,406 of 9,035 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #184 of the 709 mapped in Germany. Founded 1129, it is older than 84% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 763 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,348 times in the last 60 days, more than 73% of the atlas. 14 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Koblenz, 38 km away. It is one of the 51 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Moselle. It is stop 7 of 36 on the Moselle castle route, Trier to Koblenz. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.
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