Neuweilnau Castle

Neuweilnau Castle is a castle in the Taunus region, located today in the municipality of Weilrod, above Neuweilnau.

The castle dates back to a fortress built in 1302. At that time, the Weilnau line of the Counts of Diez, which had existed since about 1200, also split territorially from the rest of the family. Until then, both branches of the family had shared ownership of the strategically important Altweilnau Castle above the Weiltal valley. In a contract dated June 22, 1302, both lines decided that Altweilnau would remain with the Diez side and that the latter should build a new castle for the Weilnau line. The Rödelnberg on the opposite side of the valley was chosen as the location. The actual castle complex, which included a moat and a keep, was soon joined by several houses, including those of burgmannen, from which the village of Neuweilnau developed.

Heinrich von Weilnau used the castle for only a few years, which were marked by the general economic decline of the Diez comital house. In 1326, the Weilnau family moved their seat to Birstein in the Vogelsberg. In the same year, Siegfried von Runkel, Vogt of St. Severus Abbey in Gemünden in the Westerwald and brother-in-law of Heinrich von Weilnau, initially acquired the castle as a pledge, which he, however, sold in the same year to the expanding House of Nassau in the person of Gerlach I von Nassau.

In the following years, a rivalry developed between the Nassauian town of Neuweilnau and Altweilnau, located on the other side of the valley. A small textile industry with fulling mills and dye works developed in Neuweilnau. In 1336, after only a few days, the town rights granted to Altweilnau were revoked at the instigation of Gerlach von Nassau. In a contract from 1405, the Nassaus finally acquired the castle and the town as property and no longer just as a pledge.

Between 1498 and about 1520, the medieval castle was largely rebuilt and adapted to the requirements of an early modern residence and those of an administrative center for the associated office. From 1520, the complex served as the main residence of the Counts of Nassau-Weilburg, as the castle there was in a poor state of repair. Under Philipp von Nassau-Saarbrücken, further construction work took place until 1566, including the construction of the gatehouse. During this time, the castle acquired its present appearance.

When the Nassau-Weilburg counts moved their residence to Saarbrücken in 1574, the decline of the castle and the town began. During the Thirty Years' War, Neuweilnau was largely depopulated. After the end of the war, Magdalena von Nassau-Saarbrücken was the last noble resident of the castle. With the establishment of the Principality of Nassau-Usingen in 1688, the Neuweilnau office was also dissolved. In 1709, the keep was demolished. Subsequently, the complex largely fell into disrepair, although the foundations remained in good condition.