Castles and Ruins

This selection highlights castles, schlösser and ruins along the Rhine and Taunus, from Roman military forts to medieval hilltop strongholds and Renaissance manor-houses. Entries include fortified town castles, vineyard estates converted to wineries, ruined hillside forts overlooking the Rhine Gorge, and a Roman numerus castlle along the Limes, with notes on architecture, historical period and on-site features such as museums, restaurants or accommodations.

Sooneck Castle

Sooneck Castle is a castle in the upper middle valley of the Rhine, in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Idstein Castle

Idstein Castle, later the Renaissance style Schloss Idstein, is located in Idstein in the county of Rheingau-Taunus, Germany.

Rheinstein Castle

Rheinstein Castle is a castle near the town of Trechtingshausen in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Schloss Johannisberg

Schloss Johannisberg is a schloss and winery in the village of Johannisberg to the west of Wiesbaden, Hesse, in the Rheingau wine-growing…

Schloss Vollrads

Schloss Vollrads is a castle and a wine estate in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany. It has been making wine for over 800 years.

Burg Hattenheim

Ruined castle located in the village centre of Hattenheim (Eltville am Rhein); visible medieval masonry and foundations in the town.

Ehrenfels Castle

Ehrenfels Castle is a ruined hillside castle above the Rhine Gorge near the town of Rüdesheim am Rhein in Hesse, Germany.

Burgruine Rheinberg

Ruined hill castle (Höhenburg) situated above the Wispertal in western Hesse.

Vorderburg

Town castle positioned on the southwest edge of the market square in Rüdesheim's Altstadt.

Rossel

Artificial ruin (folly) located at Rüdesheim's western municipal boundary, constructed to resemble a historic ruin.

Burg Schwarzenstein

Ruined hillside castle near Geisenheim at about 212 m elevation; hosts a restaurant with outdoor seating and partial wheelchair access.

Jagdschloss Niederwald

Historic hunting lodge (Jagdschloss) in the Niederwald near Rüdesheim.

Schloss Schönborn

Renaissance-era noble manor (mid-16th century) in Geisenheim, reflecting regional Renaissance architecture.

Schloss Hansenberg

Manor house that also functions as the Hansenberg educational institution (boarding school).

Kurfürstliche Burg Eltville

Electoral (Kurfürstliche) town castle of Eltville am Rhein, the city's landmark; contains museum displays and some freely accessible areas.

Fürstenberg Castle

The Burg Fürstenberg is a castle in the municipality of Oberdiebach in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Nollig Castle

Nollig Castle is a ruin above the village of Lorch in Hesse, Germany.

Kastell Alteburg

Roman numerus fort (Kastell Alteburg) on the western Taunus section of the Upper German–Rhaetian Limes.

Jagdschloss Platte

Former Nassau ducal hunting lodge on the Platte north of Wiesbaden, originally built for Duke Wilhelm I.