Fortress Koblenz-Klausenburg

The Klausenburg, formerly also known as Schützenburg, is a building complex in Koblenz that was initially used as a wine press house, then as a fortification, villa, and restaurant building. During its use as a fortification, the Klausenburg, located in the Ehrenbreitstein district, was part of the city's fortifications there. Thus, it belonged to the Nieder-Ehrenbreitstein system of the Prussian Fortress of Koblenz.

The building complex was erected in 1828 on a steep slope by the wine merchant Buschmann as a wine press house. In 1853, Josef Buschmann inherited his father's wine trade in Ehrenbreitstein. He decided to expand the wine press house into a representative residential building and transform the wine trade into a winery. However, the expansion plans were opposed by the Prussian rayon regulations, which prohibited solid construction in the immediate vicinity of the Klausenberg work. In this situation, Buschmann benefited from the expansion plans for the Ehrenbreitstein city fortifications, so that the villa could finally be built in 1856–1857 according to plans by Karl August von Cohausen. It was incorporated into the city fortifications and defensively expanded.

As early as 1860, Buschmann tried to sell the building, presumably because the villa, due to its limited number of partly oversized rooms, was not suitable as a residential building. Since no buyer was initially found for the property, the villa was finally intended as a shooting prize at an international shooting festival of the Cologne Shooting Society. Although there was a winner, the villa was never handed over to him, as rumors suggest that the then club chairman absconded with the proceeds at the beginning of the festival. The name Schützenburg, under which a restaurant was finally opened in 1894 after several changes of ownership, dates from this period. After another change of ownership, the restaurant and thus the entire building complex received the name Schloß Klausenburg in 1900. Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm von Bötticher, the owner of the neighboring Villa Rheinburg (formerly Werk Klausenberg), acquired the building in 1906 and had it converted into a residential house. Since then, the Klausenburg grew through various additions and alterations until 1919, before it was divided into individual residential units in 1930, which were then gradually sold. Today, the Klausenburg belongs to several owners.