Located 5 km from Bingen on the on the southern gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage terenie “Oberes Mittelrheintal” ( Upper Middle Rhine Valley ), the castle Rheinstein is a symbol of romantic castle reconstruction from the 19th century.
Burg Reheinstein
But the story of the castle is much longer, first mentioned in 1214 as the building erected by an Arcbishop of Mainz to collect tolls for the Electorate of Mainz. The noble toll collectors were its ‘Voegte’ ( stewards ). Thier official seat was therefore called ‘Vogtsburg’. Several decades later neighbouring Palatinate withdrew its claims for the land and both Vogtsburg and situated on the opposite bank of the river Ehrenfels lost their importance.
It was already a ruin, when Swedish troops came here in 1632, and deteriorated even more until 1823, when the castle has been acquired by Prince Frederick of Prussia.
He commissioned to Wilhelm Friedrich Schinkel the renovation in neo-Ghotic style, and called his residence ‘Rheinstein’ from the solid rock supporting the whole building. Rheinstein also received the romantic castle garden as a first from Rhine river castles.
The castle remained in possession of the Hohenzollern family. until 1975, when it was bought by the opera singer Hermann Hecht. It reains in the private hands, but some of the rooms are opened for visitors
Burg Rheinstein
Opening hours :
March 15 – November 15
daily 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
[ photo courtesy of Wayne Hsieh]
