Stromberg and Stromburg Castle —Home of the 'German Michel'

A few kilometers north of Bad Kreuznach the Guldenbach stream flows out of Hunsrück into the Nahe River. It numbers among the "steepest" streams, for between Rheinböllen and Stromberg it falls from a height of 160 meters down to 8 km. Its headwaters, cut deeply into the mountains, traversing one of the central areas for the Hunsrück iron ore reserves and the historic "Rheinböllen Ironworks", and form the border between Soonwald ('Soon Forest') to the west and Bingerwald ('Binger Forest') to the east. The most famous place in Guldenbach Valley is the village of Stromberg at the foot of Soonwald. Here on a elongated mountain spur, the most picturesque in the country, stands Stromburg Castle, one of the oldest castle complexes in Hunsrück. This is the home of the "German Michel", Hans Michael von Obentraut (1574-1625), one of the most dashing captains of the Thirty Years War, around whom creep various stories —he is not to be confused with a ridiculous figure by the same name, a clumsy oaf with a pointed cap and knee breeches, who was used as a political character to personify simple-mindedness and an easy-going ponderousness since the Reformation in Germany in order "to rouse" the people.