Neuerburg Castle

Neuerburg Castle is a castle or fortress in the western Eifel region, in the Enzbach valley above the town of Neuerburg in the Bitburg-Prüm district of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The first confirmed documentary mention of the hillside castle took place in 1132, when a Theoderich zu Neuerburg attested to a deed of gift. The castle was already older at that time, as the Count of Vianden referred to the castle and lordship of Neuerburg in 1270 as "an old fief" of his house, which he himself had received from the Count of Luxembourg.

An older document from the second Norman invasion in 892 mentions a "newly built castle" into which the Prüm monks had fled. However, several castles in the Eifel region could be referred to here.

The importance of the castle granted the town, located at its foot, city rights in 1332. In the same year, Friedrich III, the last lord of Neuerburg, died. In the following years, the lordship changed hands several times.

Significant expansion measures towards a fortress were then carried out between 1513 and 1540 by Dietrich IV, Count of Manderscheid-Blankenheim, Lord of Schleiden, Daun, Neuenstein, Kronenburg and Neuerburg, etc. This line of rulers then retained the castle and lordship until its dissolution by the French revolutionary troops in 1794. As part of the expansion measures, bastions intended for artillery were built. Particularly noteworthy is the transition between round bastions (southwest bastion) to polygonal bastions (north bastion), which took place within this construction phase. The wall thicknesses were multiplied in the course of these construction works, until they finally reached about 5.5 meters. This process is unusual for such an old castle, as it was now expanded to resemble a fortress. Nevertheless, a residential wing was also added.

Its importance as a fortress is particularly noteworthy during the Thirty Years' War from 1618 to 1648, because the castle was first repaired and munitioned and then ready for defense against Swedish, Dutch, Irish, Polish and French troops. However, the Luxembourgish troops quartered for defense also behaved so badly that they also had to be defended against. The castle, however, prevented looting by these very troops.

In the following years, there was always war (Palatinate War of Succession, Dutch War), so the castle was further expanded and fortified, but also shelled. 1692 was a decisive year, because the fortifications were then blown up by the French. Part of the facilities was rebuilt in 1701, but no longer in its old splendor. The definitive end came with the Revolutionary Wars, when the castle was auctioned off and the stones, especially after the great city fire of 1818, were sold and demolished.

The castle then came into municipal ownership and served as a poorhouse, archive, and prison until the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1926, the Bund Neudeutschland acquired the castle under a hereditary lease agreement. Subsequently, the castle was partially rebuilt and today serves as a youth education and recreation center.