Thurandt Castle

The ruin of Thurant Castle (also Thurandt) stands on a wide slate mountain spur high above the village of Alken on the Moselle. It is located in the Mayen-Koblenz district (Rhineland-Palatinate) and belongs to the type of spur castles. A special feature – in addition to its location on the steep valley shoulder – are the vineyards on the sunny side.

From the middle of the 13th century, the archdioceses of Cologne and Trier were joint owners of the complex and had their respective shares administered by burgraves. Each half therefore had its own keep, its own residential and economic buildings, and a separate entrance.

From the beginning of the 16th century, the double castle gradually fell into disrepair and was completely ruined by destruction during the War of the Palatine Succession. Robert Allmers acquired the complex at the beginning of the 20th century and had parts of it rebuilt. The castle is still in private ownership today, but can be visited all year round for a fee. According to the Monument Protection Act of Rhineland-Palatinate, it is a protected cultural monument and is listed in the state monument list. The entire complex is designated as a monument zone. Furthermore, Thurant Castle is a protected cultural property according to the Hague Convention and is marked with the blue and white protective emblem.

Ceramic finds suggest a Roman settlement of the mountain spur, but the first documented mention of a complex at this location dates only from 1209.

Presumably between 1198 and 1206, Count Palatine Heinrich I the Long from the noble house of the Welfs had a fortification built at the present site to secure the claims of his brother, Emperor Otto IV, in the Moselle region. According to tradition, he named the hilltop castle after Toron Castle near Tyre in present-day Lebanon, which he had unsuccessfully besieged with an army during the Battle of Barbarossa in the Third Crusade. After Count Palatine Heinrich II the Younger died without male offspring in 1214, Emperor Frederick II granted the castle and the town of Alken as an imperial fief together with the Palatinate to the Wittelsbachs, who were loyal to the Staufer.

Due to its location in the Trier region, Thurant Castle was also claimed by the Archbishops of Cologne and Trier. In 1216, Engelbert I of Cologne succeeded in taking the complex by force. Although Pope Honorius III protested against this action, Engelbert maintained his conquest until his death in November 1225, before the castle returned to the possession of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine. Otto II of Bavaria then appointed the knight Berlewin, called Zurn, as burgrave. However, since Berlewin acted as a robber knight and raided the Trier region from his castle, Arnold II of Isenburg and Konrad von Hochstaden joined forces and besieged the castle from 1246 in the so-called Great Feud. In 1248, the complex was taken by them and on November 17 of that year, a peace treaty was signed, which is still preserved today and thus represents one of the oldest German documents. In the document, the Electoral Palatinate renounces Thurant Castle and the associated town of Alken in favor of the two archdioceses.

The archbishops divided the complex into a Trier and a Cologne half, which were separated by a wall and each administered by its own burgrave. Each half had a separate entrance, its own residential and economic buildings, and a keep, today called Trier Tower and Cologne Tower. In the 14th and 15th centuries, both parts of the castle served not only as sub-fiefs but also as collateral. Among the noble families who ruled Thurant from the beginning of the 14th century were the families of Schöneck, Winningen, Eltz, and von der Reck. From 1495, the Lords of Wiltberg were one of the feudal tenants. They used the castle, already described as dilapidated in 1542, as a quarry to build the Wiltberg Castle, also called Wiltburg, in Alken.

During the War of the Palatine Succession in 1689, further destruction by French troops occurred, finally turning the complex into a ruin. Only the two keeps and a 16th-century residential building remained largely intact.

Privy Councillor Robert Allmers acquired the complex in 1911 and had some of its parts rebuilt in 1915/16. Since 1973, it has been the joint private property of the Allmers and Wulf families.