Burg Katz

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Burg Katz is located at St. Goarshausen in the Rhineland-Palatinate. It was constructed in 1371 by Count Wilhelm II of Katzenelnbogen. The name is a pun on the word ‘Katzenelnbogen’, and translates as ‘Castle of the Cats”. The proper name is “Neukatzenelnbogen". It was built to protect the Katzenelnbogen lands and to receive tolls from merchants and travellers along the Rhine. The Spaniards besieged it in 1626, and the French tried to take it in both 1684 and 1692. It was captured by the French in 1792, and was blown up by Napoleon in 1806. The subsequent restoration was heavily influenced by the nineteenth century neo-gothic movement. At present it is privately owned and is being retrofitted as a hotel

Burg Maus

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Burg Maus 1
Burg Maus 2

Burg Maus is located on the east side of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen. Constructed by Archbishop-Elector, Bohemond II of Trier in the mid-fourteenth century, it served to enforce his toll rights and to secure borders against the counts of Katzenelnbogen, who allegedly gave the castle its name. Punning on their own name, the Katzenelnbogens joked that it was the job of the “Katz” to keep the mouse (maus) in check. This name stuck, even though the castle was also referred to as Burg Peterseck, Thurnberg (Thurmberg) and Deuernburg. Burg Maus was never destroyed, but fell into a state of disrepair during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Between 1900 and 1906, it was restored, with great attention to historical accuracy, by architect Wilhelm Gärtner. During World War II, the castle received shell damage. It now houses an aviary for falcons, owls and eagles.