Falkenstein Castle (), also called New Falkenstein (''Neu-Falkenstein''), is a
ruined
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
hill castle
A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles a ...
at in the eponymous
climatic spa of
Falkenstein
Falkenstein or Falckenstein ("falcons' stone" in German) may refer to:
Places
Austria
* Falkenstein, Lower Austria, a market town in the district of Mistelbach
Germany
* Falkenstein, Bavaria, a market town in the district of Cham
* Falke ...
, a quarter of
Königstein im Taunus
Königstein im Taunus (, ) is a health spa and lies on the thickly wooded slopes of the Taunus in Hesse, Germany. The town is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Owing to its advantageous location ...
in the county of
Hochtaunuskreis
The Hochtaunuskreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Neighbouring districts are Lahn-Dill, Wetteraukreis, district-free Frankfurt, Main-Taunus-Kreis, Rheingau- ...
in the German state of
Hesse
Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...
.
Location
The castle ruins are visible from a long way off, both from Königstein im Taunus as well as from the direction of
Kronberg im Taunus
Kronberg im Taunus (, ) is a town in the Hochtaunuskreis district, Hesse, Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Before 1866, it was in the Duchy of Nassau; in that year the whole Duchy w ...
. From the ruins the city of
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
and large parts of the
Rhine-Main
The Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'', ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'' or ''FrankfurtRheinMain'', abbreviated FRM), is the third-l ...
Plain may be seen. However, the site is not overrun by tourists, partly because it is not signed from outside the village. The path to the castle is located by the Catholic Church on ''Reichenbachweg''; here there is a signpost. The castle can be reached only on foot. The path from the church is about 330 metres long and runs uphill. Other neighbouring castles are
Königstein about 1.5 kilometres to the southwest and
Kronberg
Kronberg im Taunus (, ) is a town in the Hochtaunuskreis district, Hesse, Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Before 1866, it was in the Duchy of Nassau; in that year the whole Duchy was absorbed into Prussia. Kronberg lies ...
about 3 kilometres southeast.
History
The castle was built in the mid-14th century as New Falkenstein (''Burg Neu-Falkenstein'') by the
lords of Bolanden-Falkenstein, whose family home was on the Donnersberg hill at
Falkenstein Castle in the
Palatinate, and immediately next to
Nüring Castle, which probably dates from the 11th century. It was first mentioned in 1364 in connexion with the imperial war against
Philip VI of Falkenstein.
The castle changed owners in quick hereditary succession from the end of the 14th century. The
counts of Sponheim
The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a medieval German noble family, which originated in Rhenish Franconia. They were immediate Counts of Sponheim until 1437 and Dukes of Carinthia from 1122 until 1269. Its cadet branches ruled in the Imperial C ...
were followed by
Philip of Nassau
Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the n ...
(1385) and the
lords of Hattstein as well as the
lords of Kronberg, who were initially vassals (''
Lehnsmann
A ''Lehnsmann'' (plural: ''Lehnsleute'' or ''Lehnsmänner'') or ''Lehnsnehmer'' (also spelt ''Lehens-'') was a nobleman in the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries, who, as a liegeman was obliged to render service, goods in kind and loyalty to ...
en'') and then owners. Around 1500 the
enceinte
Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the positio ...
was reinforced with
flanking tower
A flanking tower is a fortified tower that is sited on the outside of a defensive wall or other fortified structure and thus forms a flank. From the defensive platform and embrasures the section of wall between them (the curtain wall) could b ...
s and the
late Gothic bergfried
''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries an ...
converted into the
butter churn shape (similar to that in
Idstein
Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt (region), Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsch ...
). In the early 17th century the castle passed into the possession of the lords of
Staffel.
In a deed dated 18 January 1680
Adolf Johann Karl Freiherr von Bettendorf (successor to the childless Gerhard Adam von Staffel) received the ''
schloss
''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house.
Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cogn ...
'' and village of Falkenstein as a
Nassau-Weilburg
The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806.
On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...
fief
A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
.
The end of the castle came after 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 lost its importance and fell into decay. Parts of it were still occupied until about 1780 by the
lords of Bettendorf, but it was then demolished. The gradual destruction of the rest of the site was not stopped until 1842. The gateway visible today is a reconstruction dating from that period.
In 1945 the castle was transferred to the municipality of Falkenstein. Because it did not have a "castle inn", a water main and sanitation, festivals, plays and overnight stays at the castle were not initially possible. To preserve the local landmark the Falkenstein Local History Society became involved in practice using donations. Every year in summer there is a public festival by the Falkenstein Male Voice Choir (''MGV Falkenstein''). This club also uncovered the only cellar in the castle interior in the 1970s.
The castle is commemorated in literature by the poet
Stefan George
Stefan Anton George (; 12 July 18684 December 1933) was a German symbolist poet and a translator of Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Hesiod, and Charles Baudelaire. He is also known for his role as leader of the highly influential liter ...
(1868-1933) in his last anthology, ''Das Neue Reich'' (1928), with the poem ''Burg Falkenstein'': ''To the wooded hilltop, I climb up near to you, where on the gnarled square corner tower, the round tower rises up..."'' (''"Zur bewaldeten kuppe / stieg ich an neben dir / Wo auf rauh-gradem eckturm / sich der rundturm erhebt
..''
Description

The
enceinte
Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the positio ...
, part of the
shield wall
A shield wall ( or in Old English, in Old Norse) is a military formation that was common in ancient and medieval warfare. There were many slight variations of this formation,
but the common factor was soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder ...
, the 18-metre-high
bergfried
''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries an ...
on a base of 6.75 by 6.75 metres with its
elevated entrance
An elevated entrance is a type of entrance, common in the design of medieval castles, that is not accessible from ground level, but lies at the level of an upper storey. The elevated entrance is the lowest and frequently the only way of ente ...
at a height of four metres, remains of a building on the east side and two artillery towers are well preserved. The size of the
inner ward
A bailey or ward in a fortification is a leveled courtyard, typically enclosed by a curtain wall. In particular, a medieval type of European castle is known as a motte-and-bailey. Castles and fortifications may have more than one bailey, and t ...
was about 90 by 30 metres. The square bergfried dates from the 14th century; the round turret on the top from the 15th century.
The whole of the ruins are currently (as at end 2013) open from March to October daily from 10:00 to 19:00. From November to February the castle may be visited only at weekends from 10:30 to 16:30. Usually access is controlled by members of the Falkenstein Local History Society who charge an entry fee of 2 euros per person. The nearby Dettweiler Temple is a viewing point that is open at all times.
The bergfried is currently not open, but is opened during festivals. In the summer months it is also opened to the public about once a month - usually on a Saturday. The castle also offers very good views of the
Rhine
The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
-
Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
*Main River (disambiguation), multiple rivers with the same name
*Ma'in, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Yemen
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*Spanish Main, the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territ ...
Plain from the
Opel Zoo and Kronberg Castle.
The castle is part of the "Three Castles Way" (''3-Burgen-Weg Königstein – Falkenstein – Kronberg'') established in 2013 by the
Taunus Club.
3-Burgen-Weg Königstein – Falkenstein – Kronberg
at ''taunusklub.de''
Literature
* Magnus Backes
Magnus Backes (17 September 1930 – 21 May 2019) was a German art historian and historic preservationist. From 1983 to 1991, he succeeded Werner Bornheim gen. Schilling and Hartmut Hofrichter as the third of the General Directorate for Cultura ...
, Hans Feldtkeller: ''Kunsthistorischer Wanderführer Hessen''. Pawlack, Herrsching, 1984,
* Beate Großmann-Hofmann und Hans-Curt Köster: ''Königstein im Taunus: Geschichte und Kunst'', 2nd expanded and updated edition, 2010, Verlag Langewiesche, Königstein im Taunus, , pp. 140f.
* Rudolf Knappe: ''Mittelalterliche Burgen in Hessen. 800 Burgen, Burgruinen und Burgstätten.'' 3rd edition, Wartberg-Verlag. Gudensberg-Gleichen, 2000, , pp. 465f.
* Anette Löffler: ''Die Herren und Grafen von Falkenstein (Taunus): Studien zur Territorial- und Besitzgeschichte, zur reichspolitischen Stellung und zur Genealogie eines führenden Ministerialengeschlechts; 1255 – 1418.'' (Quellen und Forschungen zur hessischen Geschichte 99), , Darmstadt, 1994
* ''Schlösser, Burgen, alte Mauern.'' published by Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden, 1990, , pp. 217f.
References
External links
Falkenstein Castle at Burgenwelt.de
Falkenstein Castle at alleburgen.de
The castle at taunus-info.de
Artist's impression
by Wolfgang Braun
*
{{Authority control
Castles in Hesse
Buildings and structures in Hochtaunuskreis
Heritage sites in Hesse
Hill castles