Niederburg Castle

The Niederburg in the village of Niederburg in the Hunsrück, Rhineland-Palatinate, is a medieval castle ruin from the 12th or 13th century. It was built at a time that can no longer be determined by the Archbishops of Trier to have a nearby, conveniently located fortified place for their numerous battles against the city of Oberwesel, from which to direct attacks – as in the Wesel Feud, also known as the Wesel War, a conflict between Archbishop Werner von Falkenstein and the city of Oberwesel in 1390/1391, in which firearms were used for the first time in the Rhineland. In the years 1362–1388, Archbishop Kuno II von Falkenstein resided at Niederburg Castle – as a residence and to supervise the construction of the Peterseck or Thurnberg Castle, also known as Maus Castle, which he completed at that time.

Little of the castle complex remains today. These include a section of the castle wall with two round corner towers, one in the north with an outer diameter of approx. 9 m, a height of 7 m (2004) and a wall thickness of 3 m, through the outside of which runs a shaft-like opening approx. 2 m wide with a wall base, the other with underground foundation parts as a stump (3 m). On the two-story wall section between the two towers, the outline of the destroyed palas building can still be seen in the three arches of 3–4 m span with three wall niches, window sills and small windows. As with many dilapidated buildings, this complex also served as a quarry.