Pyrmont Castle

Pyrmont Castle stands west of Münstermaifeld near Roes and Pillig on a slate rock above the waterfall of the Elzbach in the southern Eifel. It belongs to the district of the municipality of Roes (Cochem-Zell district).

The rock castle was built at the end of the 12th century on palatine territory by Kuno von Schönburg, whose son Kuno II was the first of his family to call himself "Lord of Pyrmont". The castle was first mentioned in 1225.

In 1441, Kuno VI von Pyrmont stipulated by will how his inheritance (and thus also Pyrmont Castle) was to be divided among his three quarrelsome sons Heinrich VI, Johann, and Friedrich, in order to preserve the family seat from partition. However, this did not prevent the squabblers from quarreling over the castle complex after their father's death. Heinrich VI von Pyrmont was even placed under imperial ban due to the inheritance disputes, and the administration of his share of the castle was transferred to his brother Friedrich.

The complex only saw more peaceful times again in the second half of the 15th century, when Heinrich VI, elevated to the status of Baron by Emperor Maximilian I, was Lord of Pyrmont. Although his marriages were blessed with two sons, it was ultimately his daughter Elisabeth who was to inherit the Pyrmont estate. As she was married to Philipp von Eltz, the castle thus fell to this important comital family.

However, the Eltz family was not always in agreement about the distribution of their inheritance either. In 1652, one of the Eltz heiresses sold her share to members of the Waldbott von Bassenheim family due to ongoing disputes; two years later, they were appointed Imperial Barons due to this possession.

Another Eltz share of Pyrmont Castle passed to Kurtrier in 1695 and was also acquired by the Waldbott von Bassenheim family in 1710.

In 1712, the Waldbotts began to convert the medieval castle into a representative palace. The palas was raised to three stories and equipped with large windows. The current grand staircase on its south side also dates from this period.

During the French Revolution, the owners fled from French troops to their possessions on the right bank of the Rhine in 1789, and only five years later the castle was declared French national property. It then shared the fate of many castle complexes located on the left bank of the Rhine: in 1810, it was auctioned for demolition with seven hectares of land for 4550 francs. The new owner, Franz Georg Severus Weckbecker from Münstermaifeld, sold everything salvageable. The remains of the buildings visibly deteriorated.

In 1818, Karl Waldbott von Bassenheim bought the castle back. Many owners were to follow him, but none of them rebuilt the ruin. Only the family of the architect Franz Krause, who worked, among other things, as a draftsman for Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz, made part of the dilapidated castle complex habitable again from 1912. However, financial means for further important renovations were lacking.

In 1963, the two Düsseldorf architects Helmut Hentrich and Hubert Petschnigg took on the remaining parts of Pyrmont Castle. After the purchase, they began with securing work and a gradual reconstruction, especially of the core castle. In 1990, the castle area was opened to visitors. Inside, old furniture and furnishings can now be viewed, filling the rooms with history and partly recalling the former castle owners. A restaurant has opened its doors in the rebuilt outer bailey.