The remains of the Castle can be visited
CastleAsbach - Ehrenstein
Ehrenstein Castle
Ehrenstein Castle (not to be confused with the castle of the same name in Thuringia and Ehrenstein Palace in Gotha) is a small castle ruin in the Ehrenstein district of the municipality of Asbach (Westerwald) in the Neuwied district, in the northern Westerwald.
The hillside castle is located at an altitude of about 170 meters above sea level and only 25 meters above the streambed of the Mehrbach, which flows into the Wied a few hundred meters further, and the immediately adjacent Ehrenstein Monastery. The nearest communities on the Wied are Neustadt (Wied) (about 3 kilometers downstream) and Peterslahr (about 3 kilometers upstream).
The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1331 as the property of a Rorich von Uetgenbach (1312-1345), who thereafter called himself Lord of Ehrenstein. Later it came into the possession of the Lords of Nesselrode, to whom the castle belonged until the abandonment of ownership in 1993.
During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was destroyed by Swedish troops and has not been rebuilt since.
Layout+
Today, the ruin is freely accessible and was cleared of vegetation in 2006.
The advanced artillery tower, which protrudes from the forest above the monastery located in the valley, is the most striking feature of the ruin.
At the end of 2006, the advanced tower and the round curtain wall flanking tower were still preserved at their full height. Significant remains of the reinforced attack side of the centrally located pentagonal residential tower are still present, while the weaker side walls have partially crumbled down to the foundations. The gatehouse facing the monastery can only be vaguely discerned.
Extensive securing and reconstruction work has been underway since 2007, and in 2010, the northeastern curtain wall was completely restored. Restoration work is currently continuing.
Due to its removal from the land register, the castle ruin has been considered "ownerless" since 1993. The restoration work is financed by the local municipality and the Verbandsgemeinde Asbach, as well as by state funds.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: Roland Neubert, Halle (Saale)
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 50.6171, 7.4558