Grimburg Castle

Grimburg, Germany

Grimburg Castle was built around 1190 by the Archbishops of Trier to serve them as a regional castle. It was the seat of office for almost 40 Hochwald communities and received a town charter in the 14th century. The castle was taken in 1522 by Franz von Sickingen.

In 1978 the castle was woken from a long slumber and partly restored in the following years. The intensive efforts of the “Friends of Grimburg Castle“ have made it possible to give the numerous visitors of today a rough picture of a medieval castle site. Viewing is possible all year round and the admission is free.

The castle complex extends for a length of about 300 meters and a width of around 90 meters. Thus, the Grimburg was, if not the most significant, at least the most spacious among the former Kurtrier state castles. It comprises a outer bailey, a rectangular keep, a hall (palas), and a chapel. The lower church served the residents of the outer bailey for worship, while the upper church, functioning as a gallery with its own entrance, remained reserved for the archbishop and his officials.

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Grimburg, Germany
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Details

Founded: c. 1190
Category: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Hohenstaufen Dynasty (Germany)

More Information

www.burg-grimburg.de

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

René Beaumont (10 months ago)
Free to visit, a tiny walk needed to get there. But even in the rain doable. Can climb the tower, marvelous views
Dominic Butaitis (11 months ago)
Beautiful site, nice walk up to castle.
Danielle Cummings (2 years ago)
Came here on a Friday August afternoon with my three kids nearly ages 6, 4, and 2). We were able to drive all the way up to the castle, where there were multiple spots available (I'd guess there are about 10 spots, and only 3 were taken). I suggest making the "Grimburg WC" your Google Maps GPS destination, as that will bring you directly to the parking lot, whereas using "Grimburg castle" will only bring you to the preceding road, still about a kilometer away from the parking lot. There happened to be a wedding finishing up in the ruin when we arrived, though it seemed most of the guests had parked on the opposite side of the castle. Prior to the end of the parking lot, there is a tower you can look at but cannot enter (unless you are staying the night there, I believe). There is a very clean bathroom facility right at the parking lot, and then once you start walking into the ruin there is a small playground within the outer ruin walls with a net swing and a single wooden horse to ride. There are a few outer ruin rooms to see there, and then you walk by a pavilion with a garbage and multiple tables to snack at, and then you enter the actual castle grounds. There is a bridge over what looks like it may have been a moat and then an inner courtyard, with an adjacent chapel and multiple ruined rooms to explore. You can walk around the castle to the right, which will bring you around back to two more towers (one of which has more seating for picnicking) and another large outer courtyard, and back into the castle, where you can see a few more ruined rooms and an herb garden, and ultimately back to a staircase that enters the inner castle courtyard. There is also a tower within the main body of the ruin that you can climb up to, with safe wooden stairs that finishes with a semi steep ladder-like staircase. The top of the tower is covered and quite safe, though there were many arrow slit windows on the climb up I think my kids coould have squeezed through. I wore the toddler all the way up to tower but the 4 and 6 year olds walked the whole way without complaint. There were many garbages on the outskirts of the castle but no food or beverage options, unless you were attending the wedding :) We spent almost 2 hours here having snacks, playing in the playground, and exploring the ruins. It was particularly nice being able to park so close. There is a restaurant called Grimburger Hof with a nice outdoor seating area that I would have liked to stop at if I didn't need to get home. This was an hour's drive for us but well worth it!
James Wallace (4 years ago)
Helpful signs in German, English, French and Dutch to explain different parts of the castle. Very pretty view from the keep.
Andrea (6 years ago)
Beautiful surroundings to walk. The castle it self has a beautiful point from which you can see the area. The 'rooms' have signs so you know what it ones was.
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