Ellar Castle (Ruin)

Ellar Castle is a castle ruin at around 290 m above sea level in the Ellar district of the municipality of Waldbrunn in the Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse.

At the end of the 13th century, Ellar Castle was probably built by the Counts of Diez to secure imperial roads. Near the castle was the Gadelheimer Mühle toll station.

The first mention of the castle was in 1323 when a Heinricus Burggraf zu Ellar appeared in the retinue of Count Emicho von Nassau Hadamar.

In 1368, the castle came into the possession of the County of Katzenelnbogen as a dowry. During this transfer, Emperor Charles IV confirmed the castle as an immediate imperial fief. Ellar Castle had two castle seats. During the Mainz Diocesan Feud, the castle served as a base for the Katzenelnbogen counts against the County of Sayn.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the castle was the seat of an Amtmann and a Keller (steward). Accounts from the Keller of that time confirm a tower with a bridge for the castle. This tower also served as a dovecote. A tower guard was permanently employed at the castle. Furthermore, two cooks were part of the staff.

The castle fell to the County of Nassau-Dillenburg in 1557 and fell into disrepair. During the Thirty Years' War, the ruin was expanded into a refuge for the inhabitants of the surrounding villages.

From 1969 onwards, measures were initiated to preserve the castle.

It is a rectangular castle complex with external dimensions of 21 meters x 27 meters. In one corner there is a tower that is used as an observation tower. Inside the castle, a covered pavilion has been built that can be used for events.