Sauerburg Castle

On February 26, 1355, Count Palatine Ruprecht I received permission from the Archbishop of Mainz, Gerlach von Nassau, to build a castle near Suerburn to protect his territory against the attacks of robber knights from the nearby Waldeck Castle. The approval was apparently granted retrospectively, as the fortified complex was already a Palatine fief in 1339. The casemate-like fortress was one of the most modern complexes of its time and one of the last medieval castle constructions on the Rhine.

In 1505, Count Palatine Philipp the Sincere sold the complex as a hereditary fief to his marshal Philipp von Kronberg. Through inheritance, it passed to the Brömser family from Rüdesheim in 1618. They had the now dilapidated castle restored and modernized with bastions and a cannon rondel in the outer bailey. However, their efforts did not last long, because by 1668, when the Sauerburg came to the Barons of Metternich-Winneburg through inheritance, it was already in poor condition again.

In 1672, the castle came into the possession of the Imperial Counts of Sickingen, a noble family from which the famous Franz von Sickingen also originated and whose last descendant, also named Franz von Sickingen, is buried in the cemetery of Sauerthal. At the time of his death in 1834, the castle had long been a ruin, because in 1689 the keep was blown up by troops of the French King Louis XIV and the residential buildings of the castle complex were burned down.

Frequent changes of ownership followed, in 1888 and 1907 even through forced auction. When the secret legation councilor Loehr bought the ruin, he had it partially rebuilt from 1909 to 1912. Even today, the semi-ruin is in private hands, but can be booked for events and visited in the presence of the administrator.

In 2004, the castle was converted into a high-quality hotel with a few rooms. The interior rooms are renovated and designed in the original style. Since 2009, hotel and event operations have been suspended. The castle is for sale.

The core castle is enclosed by a trapezoidal curtain wall, with a six-story keep in the northeast. The 22-meter-high, square residential tower comprises six floors and housed a dungeon on its ground floor. All were equipped with fireplaces.

A three-story palas formerly stood on the site of the current residential building. Another residential building on the west side has now disappeared.

South of the core castle is the approximately rectangular lower bailey (first outer bailey), which is also surrounded by a well-preserved curtain wall.

Another, younger outer bailey with a triangular floor plan can be found on the east side of the complex. Secured by a reinforced gatehouse, it formerly housed mainly utility buildings, which are no longer present. In the southeastern corner of this second outer bailey is the castle chapel. A zwinger is located in front of it.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the entire area was reinforced by a bastion in the south and a cannon rondel in the northeast.