Sooneck Castle

The first documented mention of Sooneck Castle is dated to 1271. Initially, it was administered by the Lords of Hohenfels, who served as bailiffs for the Imperial Abbey of Kornelimünster. In 1282, King Rudolf of Habsburg besieged and destroyed the castle, imposing a ban on its reconstruction, which was only lifted in 1349 by Emperor Charles IV. After the castle fell to Kurmainz, Archbishop Heinrich III of Mainz enfeoffed Knight Johann Marschall zu Waldeck with Sooneck in 1346, who had the complex rebuilt. After his death, the castle became a Ganerbenburg, inhabited by several heirs, which often led to internal disputes. When the Waldeck lineage died out in 1553, the castle passed to the von Breidbach zu Bürresheim family.