Altenburg Castle

The origins of the fortress are presumed to date back to the Merovingian period. It was first mentioned in a document in 1178, and in 1193, Sifridus von Aldinburg was named as the first local nobleman. The Aldinburg family were vassals of Fulda Monastery, and their castle protected the abbey's possessions. In 1314, the castle was conquered and destroyed by Landgrave Otto, but rebuilt as early as 1319. A 1574 land register recorded three castle fiefs, with the fourth fief of the Riedesel von Eisenbach family mortgaged to the von Liederbach family. The von Liederbachs inhabited the castle until their line died out in 1605. In 1681, Baron Hermann XVI. Riedesel took possession of the fiefs and moved into Altenburg, which has been owned by his family ever since. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was destroyed by Lower Hessian troops in 1647.