Veldenz Castle, Bernkastel-Kues, Germany

The first written reference to the Veldenz castle was in the year 1156 (possibly a few years earlier). Frederick I (Barbarossa) confirmed the holding by Bishop Albert I of Verdun of the castle together with the surrounding land.

Since the 12th century, the Counts of Veldenz have been the feudal lords of the land and the castle, which became centre of the County of Veldenz. In 1286 Rudolf von Habsburg granted Veldenz city and market charters.

In 1444 the castle and associated lands passed to the Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken, after failure of the Veldenz male line. They and their successors remained in possession of the castle and county until the year 1694, even though during the intervening Thirty Years War followed approximately 150 years later by the Palatinian Succession War the castle was occupied by Swedish, Spanish and French troops.

In 1681, the castle was destroyed. In the following years, the owner moved and often used the ruin as a quarry. Over time it belonged to the Electorate of the Palatinate and Bavaria. Since 1807, it is in private hands and is now owned by the Haufs-Brusberg family.

Today

In the 15th century the site was the largest castle in the Central Moselle. This fact would appear to explain the German term Schloss in its name. At the same time it distinguishes the castle of Nohfelden known in German as 'Burg Veldenz'.

The extensive ruins of the spur castle were underpinned and partly rebuilt in the 19th century. They are on a high hill spur that drops away steeply on three sides. They are almost 100 metres long and 30 metres wide.

On the main defensive side in the north, and similarly on the southern flank, is a strategic bastion. The bergfried in the east was not rebuilt, in contrast to the palas with its distinctive stepped gable, which is now used as a restaurant.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Michaela Mendez (16 months ago)
Is only open on Wednesdays. Only German speaking tour. The guide talked for almost 2 hours....a bit boring but was OK experience.

Volodymyr B (2 years ago)
So beautiful place but now closed until March

Danielle Cummings (2 years ago)
Came here on a late May afternoon with a friend and our kids (ages six, five, three, and 1.5 years). All I knew (based on reviews and website) was that we would have to pay for tickets for anyone larger than a sword and that the tour started at 2, and that we might have to walk up a steep hill to get to the castle but that was it. We used Google maps to get there, which brought us to a small street in a tiny village without any clear path and told me “you have arrived”. I asked someone who lived in one of the houses there and he said to keep going, bear left after the homes ended, and that there would be a small parking lot on the left. He was right, and we parked there and followed signs for the castle (“schloss”). It was about a 10 minute walk at children’s pace, with me wearing the baby, and towards the end having the three year old sitting on my shoulders - it was somewhat steep, not the worst we’ve encountered but I was short of breath carrying both kids. We found out we could have kept on driving and pulled up directly in front of the castle. The tour had about 20 people in it and there were 3-4 cars parked close wi the 3-4 potential spots left along the road. The tour had already started as we were 5-10 minutes late, and was done only in German, however the caretaker of the property was incredibly kind and speaks German, French, and English. He gave us a Brief overview of what the tour guide was saying and a map after buying tickets from him for five euros just for us two adults. He said we could roam at our leisure, which is basically what we ended up doing as we couldn’t understand the tour being given in Germany only. From what I could tell, the tour guide was humorous as there were many times that the entire group was laughing. I would guess the tour took roughly an hour. There were many places to explore, and a few furnished and decorated rooms which really lets you imagine what it was like to live in those times. The castle itself is in wonderful condition, and dates back to the 1100s. There is a good amount of history you can read up on on their website online. We stayed there just over two hours exploring. There are plenty of benches and tables to have a snack if you bring food with you and they have water and wine available at the end of the tour in the knights hall. The view from the tallest tower was incredible, though it was a little nerve-racking climbing up there wearing the baby and with a three-year-old. Five and six-year-olds had no problem. There are bathrooms, which are open and require you to go down one flight of stairs once you’re in the castle. Overall, I was so happy to have made the hour long trek to this castle and was more than impressed with the staff and facilities. I highly recommend it to anyone, even if you don’t speak German as it is fun to explore regardless and they did their best to accommodate us despite our language limitation. They also shot the cannon at the start of the tour; we were still down in the parking lot when we heard it, and then they launched the catapult with nothing in it, both being such a cool features of the tour. The local village was adorable and awesome drive and had a few restaurants open that looked like they would have been wonderful spots to stop for a meal or beverage. Definitely stop here!

Town Traveller (5 years ago)
Private

Cristhian Suttor (5 years ago)
Very Nice see

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