Arenfels Castle

The history of Arenfels Castle began in the 13th century when Heinrich II von Isenburg or his son Gerlach erected a fortified complex on a rocky plateau above the Rhine between 1258 and 1259. This castle, first documented in 1259, was smaller than the present-day structure. After the Isenburg-Arenfels line died out in 1371, the castle passed to the Electorate of Trier. In the 16th century, under Count Salentin von Isenburg-Grenzau, it was converted into a Renaissance castle, with defensive elements removed. This allowed Swedish troops to easily capture the castle during the Thirty Years' War. Following the death of the last male representative of the Isenburg-Grenzau line in 1664, the Archbishop of Trier enfeoffed Johann Carl Caspar von der Leyen with the complex in 1670, who developed it into a summer residence.