Hardtburg Castle

Even though the Hardtburg is located on a hill called Hardt, it is not a hilltop castle but a moated castle. The castle complex consists of an outer bailey and a core castle and, with the surrounding moat, has an area of 155x107 meters. The ring wall around the entire complex, up to seven meters high but only 60 cm thick, extends over 119x66 meters.

A bridge over the moat, which was formerly designed as a drawbridge, allows access to the outer bailey through a gate tower that previously had a portcullis. Today, several buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries stand in the extensive castle courtyard. Between the outer and main castle lies a moat, over which a bridge formerly led into the Zwinger (outer ward).

The Zwinger, whose walls are about 60 cm thick and which spreads over 50x40 m, surrounds the main castle ring. The high ring wall around the main castle, which is significantly higher than the outer bailey, encompasses 32x29 meters at its greatest extent. To the north, the wall thickness is up to 2.70 meters, while to the south it is only about 1.6 meters thick. The keep located within is 9.5x9.3 meters in size and has a wall thickness of 2.50 meters on the lower floor, which decreases towards the top.

The castle was probably built in the 11th or 12th century. A Lord von Har(d)t, who appeared from 1105, is presumed to be the builder. The first documented mention dates from 1166. In 1205, Archbishop Bruno von Sayn captured the castle and partially destroyed it. It is also known that Count Friedrich von Hochstaden bequeathed the Hardtburg to the Archdiocese of Cologne in 1246. The then Electoral Cologne castle was the administrative seat of the Hardt district, with an area of 12,100 hectares, until 1794.

The originally primitive castle complex was rebuilt in the 13th century. The outer bailey and the Zwinger were only built in the 14th century and have been preserved to this day. As drawings from 1725 show, the castle was already in ruins at that time.