Drachenfels Castle

The Drachenfels castle ruin in the Siebengebirge is the remnant of a hilltop castle, which was started in 1138 by the Archbishop of Cologne, Arnold I, and bought and completed in 1149 by Gerhard von Are, the provost of the St. Cassius collegiate church in Bonn. It stands on the mountain of the same name, Drachenfels.

The most famous castellan, Godart, became very wealthy due to the trachyte from Drachenfels, the most important building material for Cologne Cathedral.

By 1634, the castle was already damaged and was no longer repaired. In 1638, Protestant Swedish troops conquered Drachenfels and razed the outer works.

Over time, the trachyte quarries grew up to the summit. When complete destruction threatened from 1807 onwards, quarrying was prohibited, and subsequently, in 1836, the mountaintop was purchased by the Prussian government.

On October 18, 1819, Bonn students ascended Drachenfels to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig. Among them was Heinrich Heine, who described this fraternity excursion in his poem "Die Nacht auf dem Drachenfels" (The Night on Drachenfels).

In 1967, major rockfalls occurred. From 1971 to 1973, the mountaintop was secured with steel anchors and concrete reinforcements.

History of Origin

In the mid-10th century, Archbishop Brun of Cologne received the count's rights, thus creating Electoral Cologne, and the influence of the church expanded. Castles played a major role in the expansion of territories. As a rule, these were purchased.

The Siebengebirge is located at the beginning of the Cologne Bay, and the construction of a defensive structure was only understandable. The large number of castles is proof of the importance of the location: Rolandseck Castle, Godesburg, Wolkenburg, and Drachenfels Castle. The opponents of the Cologne Electors also used the Siebengebirge and built Löwenburg Castle.

The idea for the construction of Drachenfels Castle came from Archbishop Arnold I, who was elected to the See of St. Maternus in 1138. In 1149, Arnold I realized that he would not live to see its completion, and even though the mountain itself provided the building material, it was a costly undertaking. He had come to the conviction that the construction was not necessary because the archdiocese already owned Wolkenburg Castle.

Arnold found a new owner for the construction site; the provost of the St. Cassius collegiate church in Bonn, whose church was today's Minster. At that time, the owner was Gerhard von Are, who named himself after Are Castle near Altenahr. At that time, owning a castle was a matter of prestige, and von Are seized the opportunity. He completed the construction and thus had effective protection for his Bonn possessions.

Castellans of Drachenfels

The administration of the castle was entrusted to a castellan. The fief passed from father to son. The first castellan was Godart in 1176, son of Castellan Rudolf von Wolkenburg.

The following lists the castellans of Drachenfels. Only the first documented mention is given.

• 1176 Godart von Drachenfels
• 1225 Heinrich von Drachenfels
• 1258 Godart von Drachenfels
• 1280 Heinrich von Drachenfels
• 1308 Rutger von Drachenfels
• 1331 Heinrich von Drachenfels
• 1388 Godart von Drachenfels
• 1432 Johann von Drachenfels
• 1455 Godart von Drachenfels und Olbrück
• 1457 Heinrich von Drachenfels und Olbrück
• 1476 Claus von Drachenfels und Olbrück
• 1526 Heinrich von Drachenfels und Olbrück

The main line died out in 1530 with Castellan Heinrich von Drachenfels.

Changing Owners

Through Heinrich von Drachenfels' daughter Agnes, her husband Dietrich Herr zu Millendonk und Meiderich acquired the castle in 1550. With the death of Johannes II von Millendonk, with whom this line died out, the archdiocese seized the castle as an expired fief. In 1623, it was granted to Johannes II's nephew, the imperial Field Marshal Count Johann Jakob von Battenburg-Bronkhorst, who died in 1630.

A new owner was not found until 1642. For the payment of 11,000 thalers, Baron Ferdinand Waldbott von Bassenheim zu Gudenau received the lordship of Drachenfels. The fief remained with this line until its extinction. In 1735, the fief was transferred to Baron Johann Jakob Waldbott von Bassenheim zu Bornheim. His son sold the fief in 1777 to Baron Clemens August v. d. Vorst-Lombeck zu Gudenau, and his son sold the summit in 1813 to the Schäfer brothers in Königswinter. In 1827, the Königswinter stonemason's guild acquired this Schäfer property. Already at this time, the castle was a ruin, and the purchase threatened it with the same fate as Wolkenburg. The public no longer accepted this without criticism. The Crown Prince of Prussia became the advocate for the preservation of the ruin, and on April 26, 1836, the state finally became the owner of the summit.

Today, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia owns the summit, while the slopes of the mountain belong to the Siebengebirge Beautification Association.

Siege and Destruction

With the construction of the city wall around Bonn in the mid-13th century, Drachenfels Castle lost its significance as a protective fortification.

In 1493, a siege occurred. Claus von Drachenfels was killed by his nephew, Knight Heinrich von Drachenfels. Heinrich's brothers remained in the castle, and the Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann von Hessen, advanced on the castle. After a prolonged siege, they surrendered. It was not until 1526 that the murderer was pardoned and could return.

With the conversion of the Elector of Cologne, Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, to Protestantism, the castle was to regain importance. In addition to the protection of Bonn, it was the possible blocking of the Rhine Valley road that now became relevant. Archbishop Ernst von Bayern secured the use of the castle and, in 1583, in a separate contract, assured the two holders of the fief, Dietrich and Johann von Millendonk, compensation for the damage they would incur from the occupation by archiepiscopal troops. For five years, troops were now stationed in the castle. In contrast to Godesburg, which became a ruin during a siege at that time, the castle remained intact.

During the Thirty Years' War, it once again became the scene of hostilities. In the autumn of 1632, the Swedes under General Baudissin captured the castle, but a short time later they had to yield to Spanish troops. In 1634, the Elector of Cologne lamented the destruction of the castle and granted the revenues of the castle chapel to the parish church in Königswinter. The lord of Drachenfels lived at Gudenau Castle and had little to no interest in maintaining the residential buildings, allowing them to fall into disrepair.

From Quarry to Cultural Heritage

The castle and the summit consist of valuable trachyte, which was primarily used for the construction of churches in the Middle Ages. The outer facade of Cologne Cathedral consisted solely of Drachenfels trachyte until construction ceased around 1528. The lords of Drachenfels utilized the treasure they sat upon and sold a portion of their land to the Cologne cathedral builders.

When the castle was destroyed in 1634, the Ittenbach residents were allowed to use the loose stones for the construction of a chapel, which they did not do. A large part of the castle remained preserved until the mid-18th century.

In 1788, the southwest side of the keep, undermined by the quarrymen, the residential building on the Rhine side, and part of the chapel collapsed. In 1827, the quarrymen bought the castle. This would have meant its end. The public informed the Prussian government about the situation. In 1829, the King issued a cabinet order, which mandated the state's purchase of the summit. When the state became the owner in 1836, the Kölner Zeitung wrote: "More than ever, Drachenfels will find its visitors, and thus the recognition will increase that Germany's vast regions have few points that can rival this, the pride of the Rhineland, in picturesque beauty."

It was the Romanticism of that era that saved the ruin, and in 1855, funds from a discretionary fund financed the construction of a massive supporting pillar that prevented the rock from sliding and thus preserved the keep from further destruction (see photo; The castle ruin around 1860). The existing ruins were repaired by the government in 1891/1892.

In 1967, a major rockfall occurred, and a geological investigation revealed that the summit had become unstable. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia financed extensive stabilization measures, which began in November 1971 and ended in 1973. For this purpose, the hotel facilities were first demolished; only the Burgschänke (castle tavern), built in 1936, remained. Steel anchors were driven through the entire mountaintop on the west and south sides, holding it together. The individual anchors are connected by concrete reinforcement. In 1976, the characteristic mountain restaurant was completed, which was demolished in 2011.