Karlsburg Castle

The construction of Karlsburg Castle was initiated in 1696 by Johann Karl von Thüngen, an imperial field marshal who had distinguished himself in the Second Siege of Vienna. The architect responsible was the Trier court master builder Johann Christoph Sebastiani. The building was intended as accommodation for the patron's spa stays in Bad Ems. During the French Revolutionary Wars, the castle suffered damage and was temporarily uninhabitable. In 1804, the property was acquired by the Orange-Nassau rent master Goedecke, before being sold in 1817 to the spa doctor Thilenius. Subsequently, the building was renovated and converted into a hotel. Later, the castle became the property of the ducal-Nassau domain administration, which leased it to the hotelier Heinrich Becker.