Eigenburg Castle (Ruin) (Winkels)

The Maienburg (also Burg Eigenberg) is a castle ruin in the Winkels district of Mengerskirchen in the Hessian district of Limburg-Weilburg. The ruins of the Maienburg are located northwest of Mengerskirchen-Winkels on a basalt cone. The immediate surroundings of the castle are heavily wooded.

At the beginning of the 14th century, the castle complex, first documented in 1331 as "Burg Eigenberg", was built by Count Johann von Nassau-Dillenburg to protect the Calenberger Cent and was given as a male fief to Ludwig von Mundersbach.

After the death of Daniel III von Mundersbach, the family died out in 1600. The castle thus reverted to the House of Nassau-Dillenburg. From 1608, the castle was pledged to Burkhard von Waldmannshausen, was repaired and inhabited until 1612. In 1620, the heirs of Burkhard von Waldmannshausen ceded the castle to Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamar, who assigned it to the Mengerskirchen office. Since then, the castle was no longer used and fell into disrepair.

The manor belonging to the castle was leased until 1806 and demolished in 1818.

The Maienburg was secured by two ramparts and moats. The western part of the curtain wall, the south tower, and a keep with a domed vault are preserved. The palas and the eastern wall are no longer present.

The castle was built from local basalt. The keep had a diameter of 10.40 m, the wall thickness on the inside was 2.50 m, on the outside 3.90 m. Three rondels were placed in front of the keep. The keep is connected to the south tower by the approximately 40 m long wall. The wall has four loopholes. The south tower has a diameter of 6 m with a wall thickness of 1.60 m.

The originally 10 m wide and 4 m deep moats are still clearly visible.