Badenburg Castle (Gießen)

Since 1752, Badenburg has belonged to Wieseck, a present-day district of Giessen in Hesse. The lowland castle is located directly on the banks of the Lahn, slightly above the rapids there. From the 14th century, the Lords of Badenburg controlled an important riverside path, which until the 19th century was the most important connection between Lollar and Giessen.

The castle was built in 1358 after a fief from the Hessian Landgrave Heinrich II by the vassal family of Weitolshausen (called Schrautenbach) and served as their residence. The castle fell into disrepair after destruction in the Thirty Years' War and was used in the 18th and 19th centuries as a forge, accommodation for shepherds, and from 1760 as a well-known inn. Giessen students, in particular, used the castle complex and the inn for excursions, dueling days, secret meetings, and protest marches. Georg Büchner hid here with republican revolutionaries and wrote the Hessischer Landbote.

In 1975, the castle and the inn were renovated – not entirely with consideration for the historical structures.