Oberburg Castle

The Oberburg Kobern, also known as Oberburg or Altenburg, is a hilltop castle above the municipality of Kobern-Gondorf in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The ruins of the Oberburg rise at an altitude of approximately 200 meters on a mountain ridge projecting towards the Moselle, above the village of Kobern. On the same mountain ridge, about 50 meters lower, stands the Niederburg Kobern.

Castle Complex

Apart from the late Romanesque Matthias Chapel and the keep, essentially only a few remnants of the curtain wall remain. The castle complex has a rectangular layout and measures approximately 110 by 40 meters. The ground and upper floors of the square keep, measuring about 9 by 9 meters, are vaulted. The second upper floor is reached by a staircase built into the masonry.

The building adjoining the keep was only constructed from 1989 onwards.

The castle was built at the beginning of the 12th century on Celtic fortifications. It was first mentioned in 1195, when the then lord of the castle pledged it as a fief to the Archbishop of Trier.

The Matthias Chapel was built around 1220/40 by Knight Heinrich II von Isenburg to house the head of the Apostle Matthias as a relic. The castle area was enlarged during the construction of the chapel. The choir was taken over from a presumably unfinished predecessor building.

The Lords of Isenburg-Kobern retained the castle until the middle of the 14th century. Afterwards, it was sold to the Archbishop of Trier and fell into disrepair.

The keep received an emergency roof in 1936 to protect it from further decay. From 1989, the current restaurant was built next to the keep on a site that had originally been built upon. The keep was raised as part of these measures and received a new roof.