Ropperhausen Castle

Ropphausen Castle is the ruin of a medieval spur castle on a rocky ridge in the northeast of Großropperhausen, a district of the municipality of Frielendorf in the Schwalm-Eder district in North Hesse.

The castle was probably built by the Lords of Heimbach above the north bank of the Ohebach, who in the 13th century, in addition to their ancestral seat at Heimburg near Heimbach, also owned Ropperhausen Castle and court for a time. How and from whom they acquired Ropperhausen is not known. The Lords of Gilsa may also be considered as builders, who are mentioned in a document in 1232 as landowners in "Raporgehusen"; however, they are only documented as owners of the Heimbach part of the court and village of Ropperhausen from 1354, when Werner von Gilsa bought Ludwig von Heimbach's share of the Ropperhausen court and the associated villages. Until 1698, the von Gilsa were lords of Ropperhausen Castle and court.

The last male descendant of the Ropperhausen line of the von Gilsa died in 1699. The year before his death, he sold three-quarters of Ropperhausen Castle and court to a branch of the Lords of Baumbach. In 1719, they also acquired the remaining quarter from his heirs. In the years from 1711 to 1724, the von Baumbach renewed and fortified the estate facilities located in the southeast of the village. (The manor house there, Großropperhausen Castle, was built in 1832.) The old castle was no longer used, but partially demolished, and gradually fell into disrepair.