Kerpen Castle

Kerpen Castle is a spur castle standing above the Eifel village of Kerpen. The precise origins are unkown. It is very likely that it was built by Sigibertus de Kerpene, first mentioned in 1136, or his son, Henry I (1142-1177). However, it is not yet possible to give an exact date of construction.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Dietrich IV of Manderscheid-Schleiden had a castle chapel built in the Gothic style. In the Reunion Wars, some of the buildings of the castle were destroyed by French troops in 1682. During the Thirty Years' War, soldiers of the French army under General Bouffleur blew up the castle and village and razed them to the ground.

After the occupation of the left bank of the Rhine by French Revolution troops in 1794, French administrators sold the ruin to the village in 1803 for demolition.

In 1893, Johann Heinrich Dün took over the dilapidated estate. He had it freed of rubble, built the present residential house and put a new battlement on the bergfried.

Description

Kerpen Castle is built on a triple-terraced, hill spur, which is guarded to the north by a roughly 15-metre-wide neck ditch. The battlemented, 23-metre-high, bergfried stands on the first and highest terrace. On the top floor was once a dungeon.

On the middle terrace there used to be domestic and outbuildings, which no longer exist. The only relic from medieval times is the 35-metre-deep castle well in a roundel.

The lowest terrace is surrounded by an enceinte which is supported on heavy pillars. In the 17th century it house several outbuildings and castellan's houses before they were destroyed by the French in 1682.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Im Kapelleneck 2, Kerpen, Gerolstein, Germany

Details

Founded: 12th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Hohenstaufen Dynasty (Germany)