The Burg Rheinstein is a castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 near the town of Trechtingshausen

Trechtingshausen

Trechtingshausen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....

 in Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

, Germany.

History

The castle was constructed in about 1316/1317. Rheinstein Castle was important for its strategic location. By 1344, the castle was in decline. By the time of the Palatine war of succession, the castle was very dilapidated. During the romantic period in the 19th century, Prince Frederick of Prussia (1794–1863)

Prince Frederick of Prussia (1794–1863)

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig of Prussia , known in English as Frederick, was a Prussian prince, general of the royal cavalry, and division commander.- Family :...

 bought the castle and it was rebuilt.

Chronology

From the 14th-17th centuries, the castle of the archbishops of Mainz

Mainz

Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...

 awarded as fief: owners and feudal lords were among others:

1323 -Matthias, Count of Bucheck, Archbishop of Maniz

1348 -Kuno of Falkenstein, Archbishop of Mainz

1409 -Johann von Nassau mortgaged the Privy Selheim with Johann von Königstein. Sometimes also hold the archbishops of Mainz, in its secular status as Elector of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 here.

1459 -Diether von Isenburg

Diether von Isenburg

thumb|Diethers coat of arms stained glass in Mainz Cathedral...thumb|... and as relief at the city walls of [[Höchst |Höchst]]Theodoric of Isenburg-Büdingen thumb|Diethers coat of arms stained glass in Mainz Cathedral...thumb|... and as relief at the city walls of [[Höchst (Frankfurt am...

, Elector and Archbishop of Mainz, mortgaged the castle with the village Assmannshausen

Assmannshausen

Assmannshausen is, since the incorporation in 1977, a quarter of Rüdesheim am Rhein in the Rheingau, located on the Rhine in the state of Hesse, Germany. The village has a lithium spring, spa and a Kurhaus, and is famed for its red wine made from Pinot noir , which resembles red Burgundy wine...

 (which is close to the castle on the opposite bank of Rhine) to Domscholasten Volpert by Drs

1572 -The castle is associated with all the goods and the Mainz Domkustos by Treasurer Anton Wiltberg over. It may, however, not economically castle keep. By and by forfeit, but remains to the death of Wiltbergs his residence.

1779 -The ruins found in Privy J.v. Eys a new owner. The divested the walls for four Laubtaler to the Regierungsrat H. v. Goll.

1823 -On 31 March 1823, bought Prince Frederick of Prussia

Prince Frederick of Prussia (1794–1863)

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig of Prussia , known in English as Frederick, was a Prussian prince, general of the royal cavalry, and division commander.- Family :...

, the castle ruins and the rocks. The prince was a nephew of King Frederick William III and Queen Luise.

1825 -From 1825 -to 1829 -was the reconstruction under the leadership of the famous castle builder of Claudius Lassaulx whose mission from 1827 -his pupil Wilhelm Kuhn continues and Burgbau completed. Prince Frederick called the castle as "Rheinstein" because of its impressive Felslage directly above the stream.

1842 -Rheinstein Castle, the favorite residence of Prince Frederick. Many crowned heads of that time were guests at the castle, etc. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia and many others. According to his ideas is the Prince Frederick Wiesbadener Building Ph. Hoffmann, a plan for a chapel, with burial design. Just two years later, the neo-Gothic chapel with a worthy tomb for the family privy prinzliche.

1863 -After the death of the prince inherits his son, Prince George of Prussia

Prince George of Prussia

Prince Frederick William George Ernest of Prussia was a member of the House of Hohenzollern....

, Rheinstein.

1902 -Prince Henry of Prussia, a brother of German Emperor William II

William II, German Emperor

Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe...

, now inherits the castle.

1929 -in this year, the wife of Prince Henry, Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, the owner.

1953 -The last owner of the German nobility

German nobility

The German nobility was the elite hereditary ruling class or aristocratic class from ca. 500 B.C. to the Holy Roman Empire and what is now Germany.-Principles of German nobility:...

 is the Princess Barbara of Hesse and by Rhine, the Duchess of Mecklenburg.

1975 -The castle is in private possession of the Hecher family

Sources and external links

• http://www.burg-rheinstein.de
• :de:Burg Rheinstein