Pyrmont Castle () stands west of

Münstermaifeld Münstermaifeld () is a town in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") of Maifeld. It is situated south-east of Mayen, a few kilometres from the Moselle riv ...

near

Roes Roes may refer to: People * Alexander of Roes (died after 1288) * Geoff Roes (born 1976), American ultra-marathon runner * Georges Roes (1889–1945), French sport shooter * Michael Roes (born 1960), German writer and filmmaker * Peter Roes ( ...

and Pillig on a slate rock outcrop above a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

on the

Elzbach The Elzbach (also: ''Elz'') is a small river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, a left tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Eifel, near Kelberg. The Elz flows through Monreal and past Eltz Castle. It flows into the Moselle in Moselkern, in ...

in the southern

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

mountains in Germany. It is in the municipality of Roes in the district of

Cochem-Zell Cochem-Zell (German: ''Landkreis Cochem-Zell'') is a district (''Kreis'') in the north-west of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Mayen-Koblenz, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bernkastel-Wittlich, and Vulkaneifel. History In 1816 the di ...

History

The

rock castle A rock castle () is a type of medieval castle that directly incorporates natural rock outcrops into its defences to such an extent that the rock formations define the structure of the castle. Topographically, rock castles are classified as hill ...

was built at the end of the 12th century on

count palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

territory by Cuno of Schönburg, whose son Cuno II called himself "Lord of Pyrmont", the first member of his family to use the title. The castle was first recorded in 1225. In 1441, Cuno VI of Pyrmont laid down by his will and testament how his inheritance (and thus also Pyrmont Castle) should be divided between his three quarrelsome sons, Henry VI, John and Frederick, in order to protect the ancestral seat of the dynasty from division by inheritance. But this did not prevent the squabblers from fighting over the castle after their father's death. Henry VI of Pyrmont had the ''

Reichsacht The imperial ban () was a form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor, by the Imperial Diet, or by courts like the League of the Holy Court (''Vehmgericht'') or the ''Reichskammerge ...

'' imposed on him as a result of the inheritance dispute and the administration of his share of the castle was transferred to his brother Frederick. The castle did not witness more peaceful times until the second half of the 15th century, when Emperor Maximilian I elevated Henry IV, Lord of Pyrmont, to the status of a ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

''. Although his marriages resulted in two sons, his daughter, Elisabeth, was eventually to inherit the Pyrmont estate. Since she married Philip of

Eltz The House of Eltz is a noted German noble family, belonging to the ''Uradel''. The Rhenish dynasty has had close ties to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia since 1736. History Though older sources mentioned one Eberhard zu Eltz, a Frankish citize ...

, the castle fell to this important comital dynasty. However, even the Eltz family did not always agree on the distribution of their inheritance. In 1652, one of the Eltz heiresses sold her share to members of the family of Waldbott of Bassenheim because of the ongoing disputes who, two years later, were appointed imperial ''

en'' thanks to their ownership of this estate. In 1695, another Eltz share in Pyrmont Castle went to the

Electorate of Trier The Electorate of Trier ( or '; ) was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It was the temporal possession of the prince-archbishop of Trier (') wh ...

and was also acquired by the Waldbott of Bassenheim family in 1710. In 1712, the Waldbotts began to convert the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle into a prestigious ''

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 ...

''. For example, the ''

palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval '' Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson ...

'' was increased in height to three storeys and fitted with large windows. The present

perron Perron may refer to: People * Count Perron (; ), Sardinian ambassador and secretary of state * Ernest Perron (1908–1961), a Swiss man who became politically powerful in Iran * Pierre Cuillier-Perron (1753–1834), a French military adventure ...

, on the south side of the castle, dates to this period. In 1789, during the French Revolution, the owners fled from French troops to their estates on the right bank of the Rhine, and just five years later the castle was seized as French national property. She suffered the fate of many castle estates west of the Rhine: in 1810, she was auctioned off by the French, with seven hectares of land, for 4,550 francs. Its new owner, Franz Georg Severus Weckbecker from

, sold everything of any value. The remains of the buildings then gradually deteriorated. In 1818, Count Friedrich Waldbott von Bassenheim bought back the castle. Under his son, Count Hugo Waldbott, it was forcibly auctioned in 1862. Many owners were to follow him, but none rebuilt the ruins. Only the family of the architect, Franz Krause, who worked as a draughtsman for The Art Monuments of the Rhine Province, made part of the dilapidated castle complex habitable again from 1912 onwards. However, there was a lack of money for further major restoration. In 1963, two Düsseldorf architects,

Helmut Hentrich Helmut Hentrich (17 June 1905 – 7 February 2001) was a German architect who became particularly known for his striking high-rise buildings in the 1960s and 1970s. The architectural firm he founded, ''Hentrich, Petschnigg und Partner (HPP)'', st ...

and Hubert Petschnigg, bought the remnants of Pyrmont Castle. After its purchase, they began with safety work and a gradual reconstruction, especially of the

inner bailey The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer ...

. In 1990, the castle grounds were opened to visitors. In the interior rooms, old furniture and furnishings can nowadays be seen, which fill the rooms with history and partly recall the former owners of the castle. In the rebuilt

outer bailey An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary bui ...

is a souvenir shop.

Description

The irregular, rectangular castle was built in the typical style of the

Staufer The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to List of German monarchs, royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 ...

period. The 24.5-metre-high round, ''

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 ...

'' is of the

donjon A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residenc ...

type and was the first of its kind in the entire

Middle Rhine Middle Rhine (, ; kilometres 529 to 660 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bingen and Bonn in Germany. It flows through the Rhine Gorge (), a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift i ...

region. It has two vaults, several fireplaces and can be climbed as an

observation tower An observation tower is a tower used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, and woo ...

.Burg Pyrmont
auf eifeltour.de It also has a

conical roof A conical roof or cone roof is a cone-shaped roof that is circular at its base and terminates in a point. Distribution Conical roofs are frequently found on top of towers in medieval town fortifications and castles, where they may either sit d ...

. In its shadows is a 49-metre-deep

castle well A castle well was a water well built to supply drinking water to a castle. It was often the most costly and time-consuming element in the building of a castle, and its construction time could span decades. The well – as well as any available ci ...

(''Sodbrunnen''). A 15th-century ''

Zwinger A () is an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the medieval and early modern periods to improve the defence of castles and town walls. The term is usually left untranslated, ...

'' with

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls. Castle ...

s guards the

. A deep

neck ditch A neck ditch (), sometimes called a throat ditch,
at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry

, which has been rebuilt as part of the restoration. The ''Zwinger'' was once occupied by residential and domestic buildings, of which only the large storage cellar (''Fuderkeller'') has survived. Under the modern administrative building is the old north gate, which was the main entrance until the castle was expanded after the 15th century. The inner bailey, built on the rocks high above the ''Zwinger'', consists of the formerly three-storeyed ''

'', the attached

cookhouse A cookhouse is a small building where cooking takes place. Often found at remote work camps, they complemented the bunkhouse and were usually found on ranches that employed cowboys, or loggers in a logging camp. Prior to the 20th century, cook ...

and the ''bergfried''. When the castle was remodelled in the

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style from 1712, the ''palas'' and cookhouse were given roofs that reached to the top of the ''bergfried''. The facades were standardised in the baroque style with the insertion of new windows. The ''palas'' and cookhouse have only been restored with two storeys and a flat roof. The remains of the third storey recall that the castle was a ruin for a long time. The ground floor of the ''palas'' has an entrance hall, the

great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...

(''Rittersaal'') and smaller rooms; the remains of the

castle chapel Castle chapels () in European architecture are chapels that were built within a castle. They fulfilled the religious requirements of the castle lord and his retinue, while also sometimes serving as a burial site. Because the construction of suc ...

adjoin it. On the ground floor of the cookhouse, a kitchen has been built to the same dimensions as the historical one. The 18th-century castle garden, which was clearly never finished, lies below the castle, supported by

dry stone wall Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. A certain amount of binding is obtained through the use of carefully ...

s and containing a

fish pond A fish pond or fishpond is a controlled pond, small artificial lake or retention basin that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, for recreational fishing, or for ornamental purposes. Fish ponds are a classical g ...

. On the south and west hillside are traces of the

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s which were cultivated until the 18th century. BurgPyrmont.JPG, View from the west Burg Pyrmont Küche.JPG, Interior view: cookhouse Burg Pyrmont 44.JPG, One of the

s of the old ''

'' Teich Burg Pyrmont 2000 Kleinfassung.jpg, Castle pond Roes, Pyrmonter Mühle, 2012-08 CN-01.jpg, Pyrmont Mill on the Elzbach Falls with the castle behind File:Burg Pyrmont 007x.jpg, Pyrmont Castle, 2015 aerial photograph

References

External links

Website of Pyrmont Castle
* {{Authority control Castles in Rhineland-Palatinate Heritage sites in Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland Museums in Rhineland-Palatinate Castles in the Eifel Buildings and structures in Cochem-Zell

History

Description

References

Further reading

External links