Kastellaun in the Hunsrück

From whatever direction you approach Kastellaun, you will always be impressed by the ruins of the castle, which can be seen from afar towering over the town. Topographically, the position of this castle from the 13th Century is optimally situated on a rocky peak with slopes of up to 30 m steep to the east and west. The singular defense that this location provided in the Middle Ages, becomes quite obvious when you stand at the foot of the steep slopes and look up at the placement of the fortress, or when you stand on the rocky plateau and let your gaze wander over the town. Massive walls, in combination with the keep, blocked off the north side —altogether a typical medieval fortress with Palas (a residential building with a large hall and a heated apartment on the upper floor), outbuildings and a courtyard. The Counts of Sponheim (the "back" county), who, in order to secure their ties of ownership on the Nahe and the Mosel Rivers, had realigned the boundaries of a relatively closed area in the middle of Hunsrück with the towns of Kirchberg, Gemünden, Koppenstein and Kastellaun. In the year 1305 Count Simon II of Sponheim granted the city charter to the present location in the valley basin, and in this way promoted the economic development of the medieval town, which is centrally located on the Hunsrück plain and was intersected by important routes. This had such a sustained effect that, a short time later, Emperior Heinrich I also authorized a weekly market. Starting in the year 1309, the weekly market rapidly consolidated the economic importance of Kastellaun and the surrounding region. This is especially clear in a history of Kastellaun by Daniel Meisner from the year 1645, which, together with an engraving by Merian, served as the basis for the restoration of the castle in the 1990s.

In the first century of its existence, the military significance of the fortress was quite clearly in prominence. It was important for the Counts of Sponheim not only to assert their ownership against the expansive politics of the Trier Electorate and archiepiscopal seat under Archbishop Balduin of Luxemburg (1307-1354), but also to counterbalance the ambition of the Count Palatines from the Electoral Palatinate, who were trying to create a position of power in neighboring Simmern. Later the fortress was converted to the administrative seat for Kastellaun, a comfortable residence for the Prince's family, and a popular meeting place for shooting parties. In the year 1689, the castle was destroyed by French troops and never again rebuilt, even though some parts were still useable. Today, the architectural integration of the town with the lower and upper parts of the castle is still impressive. So it was not surprising when the Rhineland-Palatinate provincial government re-granted the city charter in 1969. And in the great tradition of Sponheim markets, there is the annual "Beller Market" here in July.

Not far from Kastellaun lies the ruins of Castle Balduinseck, quite concealed in a deeply cut, narrow valley. The mighty edifice was erected in the year 1325 by Archbishop Balduin of Trier as a border defense against the County of Sponheim. Rauschenburg Castle, from the year 1332 a few kilometers further north near Mermuth above the Ehrbachklamm Gorge, had a similar function.