Burg Lahneck

My Image of Burg Lahneck on Imagekind

Burg Lahneck is located at Lahnstein in the Oberlahnstein district of the Rhineland-Palatinate near Koblenz. It sits on rock where the River Lahn meets the Rhine opposite Burg Stolzenfels. Its symmetrical oblong rectangular shape is typical of later Hohenstaufen castles. The pentagon-shaped keep is rare. It was built in 1226 by Siegfried III of Eppstein, Archbishop of Mainz, to protect his territory and silver mine. St. Ulrich’s Chapel was built in 1245—the same year the castellan took residence. In 1298, King Adolf of Nassau stayed at Lahneck before he died fighting against King Albert I of Habsburg at the Battle of Göllheim. Castellan Friedrich Schilling attempted to avenge Albert’s death, and was executed in 1309. In 1475, Theodoric of Isenburg-Büdingen, Archbishop of Mainz, strengthened the castle in the face of a feud with Adolph II, Archbishop of Nassau. In 1633, during the Thirty Years War, the castle was heavily damaged by troops from Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote the poem Geistesgruß, which was inspired by the sight of Lahneck Castle during his Rhine travels. In 1803, Lahneck Castle was granted to the Duchy of Nassau. Since 1850, it has been in private hands.

In June, 1851, seventeen-year-old Idilia Dubb fell into the three-meter-high castle tower, and was not found until several years later, along with her diary which recorded her last days and hours.

A story related to Lahneck states that The Knights Templar erected and lived in Lahneck. After the destruction of the Templars by King Philip IV of France, Peter van Aspelt, Archbishop of Mainz, decided to seize Lahneck. The Templars defied him. Von Aspelt excommunicated them, and commanded them to yield to him, but the Templars determined to fight to the death. At first they held out well, but their ranks began to thin. At last the wall was breached, and all but one of the Templars was killed. He was offered amnesty, but continued to fight until he was killed. Von Aspelt preserved Lahneck for defensive purposes, and it remained in the possession of the Electorate of Mainz for three hundred years.