Waldenburg Castle

In the 17th century, Waldenburg briefly housed a commandery of the Teutonic Order. The County of Waldenburg was presumably granted by Emperor Otto II to his son-in-law Count Ezzo of Lorraine as a proprietary estate of the Ezzonians. After Ezzo's death in 1034, the lordship of Waldenburg passed to his descendants, the Counts of Zutphen. Around the mid-11th century, Waldenburg separated from the county in the southern Sauerland and became a proprietary estate of the Counts of Zutphen. Following the extinction of the male line of the Counts of Zutphen, the inheritance fell to Emmengard, and Waldenburg Castle came as a maternal inheritance to her sister Judith of Zutphen. Through Judith's marriage to Hermann I of Ravensberg and Calvelage, the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Ravensberg.

The Waldenburg castle ruin is situated on a mountain spur at approximately 367 m above sea level, directly on the Bigge Dam in the Sauerland. It is located near the town of Attendorn in the Olpe district, North Rhine-Westphalia.