Rheinfels Castle

Rheinfels Castle (German: Burg Rheinfels) is a castle ruin located above the left (west) bank of the Rhine in Sankt Goar, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was started in 1245 by Count Diether V of Katzenelnbogen. After expansions, it was the largest fortress in the Middle Rhein Valley between Koblenz and Mainz. It was slighted by French Revolutionary Army troops in 1797. It is the largest castle overlooking the Rhine, and historically covered five times its current area.

While much of the castle is a ruin, some of the outer buildings are now a luxury hotel, wellness centre, and restaurant. There is also a museum within some of the better preserved structures.

Text adapted from “Rheinfels Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Rheinfels Castle ranks #870 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #68 of the 492 mapped in Germany. Founded 1245, it is older than 73% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 7,135 times in the last 60 days, more than 89% of the atlas. 31 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Koblenz, 24 km away. It is one of the 33 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Middle Rhine. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗