Schloss Westerburg

Schloss Westerburg, first recorded in 1192, but probably built earlier, is situated in the town of Westerburg in the forested hills of the Westerwald and is on the site of an older castle dating to the 12th century. The latter belonged to the counts of Leiningen but was transferred to the House of Runkel as the result of the marriage of Siegfried III of Runkel to a daughter of the House of Leiningen in the early 13th century. In the first half of the 13th century the castle was the seat of the lords of Westerburg, who had split off from the House of Runkel by 1288 with Henry I of Westerburg.The castle was considerably expanded and remodelled over the course of time and, for a long time was the residence of a branch of the counts of Leiningen-Westerburg.