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.
Château de Niort is a medieval castle in the French town of Niort. It consists of two square towers, linked by a 15th-century building and dominates the Sèvre Niortaise valley.
The two donjons are the only remaining part of the castle. The castle was started by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century and completed by Richard the Lionheart. It was defended by a rectangular curtain wall and was damaged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, the castle served as a prison.
The present keeps were the central point of a massive fortress. The southern keep is 28m tall, reinforced with turrets. The northern tower is slightly shorter at 23m. Both are flanked with circular turrets at the corners as well as semicircular buttresses. Each of the towers has a spiral staircase serving the upper floors. The Romanesque architecture is of a high quality with the dressed stones closely jointed.