Hermeskeil with the Grimburg

In a valley basin in the westernmost part of Hunsrück lies the town of Hermeskeil, an ancient settlement at the crossing of two interregional trade routes, which already existed in the Bronze Age. Actually only a few kilometers away lies the most massive ringed wall area in Hunsrück, on Dollberg mountain near Otzenhausen, where there is an ancient settlement and a castle that was built during the Latène Age (500 to 20 BC) as the ancestral seat of an ancient Celtic dynasty. This was, at the time of the Roman conquest of the Gauls by Ceasar (54 BC), supposedly the center of power of the resident tribe of Treverians in this region. It is also not far to Trier from here, the 2000-year-old former Roman imperial residence "Augusta Treverorum". Due to its geographical proximity, Hermeskeil and the surrounding countryside belonged to the Trier Electorate and archiepiscopal seat during the Middle Ages. In the past century the town was also an important railway junction for the Hunsrück line. From here the route led out of the Nahe Valley from Langenlonsheim through Simmern to Hermeskeil and connected to Trier-Türkismühle (Nohfelden). Today only a museum for steam engines —complete with locomotives, a curved engine shed and turning platform— bears witness to this bygone era. A privately operated airplane exhibit on the road along the ridge of Hunsrück ("Hunsrückhöhenstraße") has almost 40 transportation and military machines on display. This worthwhile visit to Hochwald Museum gives you an insight into the local history of the Hunsrück region.

A few kilometers southwest of Hermeskeil is Grimburg, high above Waldrill Valley. This former castle of the Trier Archbishop was built at the end of the 12th century as a border defense to guard the possessions of the Trier church against the counts of Sponheim desire to expand. Under the likewise expansively oriented Trier Archbishop, Balduin von Luxemburg (1307-1354), Grimburg was the administrative seat of a head official. In this way the "office" was granted as a fiefdom to the nobility in the region. Territorial disputes among the powerful were quite common at that time. Evidence of this, for example, was an episode from the year 1328 between Archbishop Balduin and Loretta, Countess of Sponheim, who in the year 1324 became regent of the Back County of Sponheim. The countess prevailed by taking the archbishop captive during a surprise coup. Balduin was only freed after a five weeks confinement in the Sponheim fortress Starkenburg on the Mosel after a ransom had been paid in the amount of 11,000 farthings, in addition to his signature on a document agreeing to construct Frauenburg castle near Birkenfeld.

Grimburg castle, built on a mountain spur, must have been an important stronghold during the 13th and 14th centuries. Its proportions, a 230 m by 100 m base surface, were considerable for those times. The settlement that arose at the foot of the castle, which had already received a town charter in the year 1332, was, nevertheless, abandoned again by the middle of the 16th century. A hundred years later, in the 17th century, after being pillaged by French troops, the Grimburg "office" was also closed and the castle was then left to deteriorate. Only the courtyard Grimburger Hof, deep in the Wadrill Valley, remained, where today there is an inn. Due to the efforts of a local society for the advancement of cultural heritage, Grimburg has been rebuilt on its medieval foundation wall in the past decade. The old plans were used without, however, being able to be completely authentic. In any case, what has been created is a lovely setting for castle feasts and recitals. This is, of course, to say nothing of the grand view over the Black Forest down into the Saarland region, which the keep, towering on high, offers the visitor.