Are Castle

Around 1100, Are Castle was built by Count Dietrich I of Are and was first documented in 1121. In 1246, Count Friedrich von Hochstaden, with the consent of his brother Konrad von Are-Hochstaden, transferred the county, including the castles of Are, Hardt, and Hochstaden, to the Archbishopric of Cologne. During the Electorate of Cologne period, in the 14th and 15th centuries, the castle underwent expansions with defensive walls, serving to protect the Cologne possessions in the Ahr region. After a nine-month siege by French troops in 1690, the castle was conquered and severely damaged. Although the French withdrew in 1697, they reoccupied the complex from 1701 during the War of the Spanish Succession.