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 district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Location Rieneck lies in the Würzburg region between the southern foothills of the Rhön ...

, in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, southern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. 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.

Geography

Rieneck Castle sits on a hill in the town of Rieneck, overlooking the

Sinn river The Sinn is a river that flows through the state of Hesse and the Bavarian province of Lower Franconia in southern Germany. It is about long and is a right, northerly tributary of the Franconian Saale. Course The Sinn emerges in the Franco ...

. 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 at 586 metres above sea level. Et ...

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 nor ...

district of

, about 80 km east of

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

History

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 () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the '' Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzbur ...

and

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town 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, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth Social movement, movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hik ...

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 Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

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.

External links

Official homepage of Rieneck Castle (German)

Rieneck Castle on the website of the ''Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte'' (German)

References

Castles in Bavaria Scouting and Guiding in Germany Jugendburg Spessart {{Germany-castle-stub

Geography

History

Today

See also

External links

References