Sauerburg Castle

The origins of Sauerburg Castle date back to 1339, when the fortified complex was already a Palatine fief. However, it was not until 1355 that Count Palatine Ruprecht I officially received permission from Archbishop Gerlach of Nassau of Mainz to build a castle near Suerburn. The aim was to protect his territory from attacks by robber knights from the nearby Waldeck Castle. The casemate-like fortress was one of the last medieval castle constructions on the Rhine. In 1505, Count Palatine Philipp the Sincere sold the castle as a hereditary fief to his marshal Philipp von Kronberg. Through inheritance, Sauerburg came into the possession of the Brömser family from Rüdesheim in 1618, who had the by then dilapidated complex restored and modernized with bastions and a gun rondel. However, by 1668, when the castle passed to the Barons of Metternich-Winneburg, it was already in poor condition again.