Sankt Goarshausen, Loreleystadt

We made it up to the castle. Construction on Rheinfels began in 1245, but Count Diether V of Katzenelnbogen. When his line died out, it passed to the control of the Landgraves of Hesse, along with the town below. It was the biggest castle along this portion of the Rhine, covering five times the area it does currently. At its height, it housed up to 600 people in peacetime, during times of war and siege, up to 4500. As with all castles, it was self contained with religious structures, brewery, bakery, apothecary, livestock, water access, et cetera. In short, everything needed to survive a siege.

In the 1800s, after the Napoleonic wars and the redrawing of Europe (thank you Chancellor Metternich), it went to the... you guessed it, the Hohenzollerns and the Kingdom of Prussia. After World War I, it reverted to the town, The loophole was it could never be used for profit, and when they rented part of it out to be made into a hotel, the Hohenzollern heir (yeah, they're still kicking around), Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia, sued to get it back. He wanted it, he said, to be used for the good of the community. Though he had no real standing, the city settled with him, promising to use the grounds and money made from it to help disadvantaged youth working with his wife's, Princess Kira, foundation.

Today, there's a small fee to get in and wander around, and visit the small museum in the former chapel. It's very impressive, as all of these fortifications have been. I think I'm more of a castle person, even if they're just ruins, than a palace person. But then again, give me my little house with indoor plumbing, running water, electricity, and central heating any day.Read more