Rieneck Castle (German: ''Burg Rieneck'') is a

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 ...

located in the town of

Rieneck Rieneck () is a town in the Main-Spessart, Main-Spessart district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Location Rieneck lies in the Würzburg region between the southern foothills ...

, in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, southern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was built by Ludwig I, Count of Loon and Rieneck, around the year 1150. It is today used by the German Christian Guide and Scout Association. Rieneck Castle sits on a hill in the town of Rieneck, overlooking the Sinn river. It is located in the

Spessart Spessart () is a ''Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg (Spessart), Geiersberg at 586 metre ...

hills, in the

Main-Spessart Main-Spessart is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the northwest of Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Lower Franconia and derives its name from the river Main and the wooded hills of the Spessart. Geography The district is bounded by (from the nort ...

district of

, about 80 km east of

Frankfurt 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 ...

Background

In 1150 Ludwig I, Count of Loon and Rieneck, ordered the building of the ''castrum Rinecke'' on the northeastern boundary of his territory, with the aim of safeguarding the lands of this aristocratic family against the neighbouring lordships of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

and

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

. The little hill in the Sinn valley offered excellent conditions: there was only one direction where the castle required additional protection by a defensive ditch, and offered as narrow a front as possible to attack. The latter can be clearly seen in the ground plan of the keep, the 19-metre high "Thick Tower", which is outwardly an irregular, seven-sided polygon, whose tip points towards the nearby hill. The castle complex initially consisted simply of a courtyard surrounded by defensive walls, and the keep, with its 4 to 8-metre thick walls. Inside the walls half-timbered buildings were constructed as living quarters, store rooms, and stables. Of these only what we now know as the "arched cellar" survives.

Today

The castle today serves as a

scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

facility and is owned by the German Christian Guide and Scout Association VCP. The castle's programme includes scouting activities such as arts and crafts, pioneering and Medieval trades and offers accommodation and a campsite. The

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 ...

branch of VCP holds its annual Federal Assembly meeting at the castle. In March, April and May 2020, it was reported that, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

restrictions in Bavaria, the castle's continued operation as a scout facility, was under financial threat, with bookings, beginning at in early June, curtailed until December.

References

External links

Rieneck Castle on the website of the ''Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte'' (German)
{{Authority control Castles in Bavaria Scouting and Guiding in Germany Jugendburg Spessart

Background

Today

See also

References

External links