Blankenstein Castle () is a castle located on the south side of the river

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

Hattingen Hattingen is a town in the northern part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History Hattingen is located on the south bank of the River Ruhr in the south of the Ruhr region. The town was first mentioned in 13 ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Germany.Frank Dengler, Burg am 'blanken Stein'"''Ruhr Nachrichten'' (November 23, 2010) p. BOLO3 May 12, 1226 Adolf I, Count of the Mark, gave the order to build the castle. He charged Truchsess Ludolf von Bönen with its construction, beginning in 1227. The castle was ready in 1243, but further developed over the course of 200 years by the

Counts of the Mark The County of Mark (, colloquially known as ) was a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. It lay south of Lippe river on both sides of the Ruhr river along the Volme and Lenne rivers. The Counts d ...

. By 1425, Blankenstein was one of the most important castles in the county. In 1614, shortly before the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, it was occupied by Spanish troops. From 1637, the castle fell into disrepair so that, in September 1662,

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg Frederick William (; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as "th ...

ordered its demolition. Only the tower and parts of the curtain wall remained. In 1860, the owner of the ruin, the employer, Gustav vom Stein, began to rebuild the castle and established a factory there. The property has belonged to the city of

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

since 1922, but the town is looking for an alternative due to the costs. From 1957 to 1959, most of the buildings of the 19th century were pulled down, but some still remain. The tower can still be visited and offers a good view over

and the Kemnader Lake.

References

Literature

* Niederhöfer, Kai (2010): ''Burgen AufRuhr. Unterwegs zu 100 Burgen, Schlössern und Herrensitzen in der Ruhrregion''. Edited by Ministerium für Bauen und Verkehr des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen and Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe. Essen: Klartext Verlag, pp. 120–123 Castles in North Rhine-Westphalia Buildings and structures in Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis Bochum County of Mark {{NorthRhineWestphalia-struct-stub