Canstein Castle

The first documented mention of Canstein Castle dates to the 11th and 12th centuries, with a “Reinboldus de Canstein” being named as early as 1080. In 1120, the castle appears as “Castrum Cahenstein” in the possession of the Archbishopric of Mainz, which later returned it as a fief. Electoral Mainz sold parts of the property to the Augustinian Canonesses Monastery of Aroldessen and the Counts of Waldeck. Between 1296 and 1302, the remaining lordship passed to the Archbishopric of Cologne, leading to a feud with the Counts of Waldeck in 1302, during which the castle was damaged or destroyed. In 1342, Archbishop Walram of Cologne enfeoffed the Brothers von Pappenheim with Canstein and commissioned them to rebuild the castle to secure the Cologne electoral borders. This provoked the Waldecks, who built Grimmenstein Castle opposite, but it had to be demolished again in 1346.