Hammerstein Castle

Hammerstein Castle is the ruin of a hilltop castle on a 195 m above sea level hill on the Rhine south of the village of Hammerstein in the district of Neuwied in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The complex was built in the 10th century by the Conradines in the then Engersgau and is thus probably the oldest castle in the Middle Rhine Valley. It was mentioned as an imperial castle in the year 1000 (whereby the infill wall technique of the ring wall could even indicate Roman origin). The Burgraves of Hammerstein lived and ruled here until about 1417, before the trace of this family is lost from a genealogical perspective.

In 1020, the castle was successfully besieged by Emperor Henry II, because Otto von Hammerstein (Gaugraf in Engersgau) had entered into a religiously unrecognized marriage with his relative Irmingard and did not adhere to the dissolution of his marriage with Irmingard decided at the Imperial Diet of 1018 and attacked the Bishop of Mainz. On December 26, the defenders, starved, gave up the castle; it fell into disrepair.

Emperor Henry IV had it restored in 1071. In 1105, he had the imperial regalia, which were kept in the castle, brought from here when he was deposed by his son Henry V in Ingelheim.

In 1337, the town of Hammerstein received city rights. In 1417, the castle came as an imperial fief to the Archbishopric of Trier.

From 1632–1646, the Spanish occupied the castle during the Thirty Years' War. From 1646–1654, troops of the Duke of Lorraine used it as a base for raids. It was held by its occupiers long after the end of the war. Only after immense effort could it be taken by forces from Kurtrier and Wied. In 1688, the castle was conquered and destroyed by the French.

In 1815, the ruin fell to Prussia. Since 1893, the castle has been owned by the Barons of Hammerstein.