The remains of the Castle can be visited
CastleHagen-Hohenlimburg
Raffenburg Castle
The Raffenburg, also known as Burg Raffenberg, is the ruin of a hilltop castle in the Hohenlimburg district of the city of Hagen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the summit of the wooded Raffenberg (240 m above sea level) in the middle of the Raffenberg nature reserve, west of the Hohenlimburg town center and east of the Hagen district of Holthausen. On the northeast side of the mountain, the B 7 (Hohenlimburger Straße/Stennertstraße) separates the hill from the Lenneaue, which is more than 120 m lower. On the flatter south side of the mountain, a path leads up to the complex. It begins at the Piepenbrink hiker's car park near the Märchenwald (Fairy Tale Forest).
The hilltop castle was most likely founded in the first half of the 13th century – probably after the slaying of Archbishop Engelbert von Berg in 1225 or on the occasion of the founding of the directly opposite Hohenlimburg – as a Cologne electoral border castle against the emerging County of Limburg. This is supported by the rich and diverse archaeological finds, as well as historical sources and the political context.
From May 7, 1288, Count Eberhard II of the Mark besieged the Raffenburg with siege engines, among other things. After several unsuccessful attempts at conquest, the castle fell due to lack of water, according to Levold von Northof, the chronicler of the Counts of Mark. The castle was granted as a fief until the 14th century. Coin and ceramic finds also prove a further phase of expansion and settlement after its destruction in the late 13th century.
Complex+
The castle was surrounded by a 120-centimeter-thick ring wall and a moat. It had two towers, two palas buildings with cellars, stables, a cistern, and accommodation for the castle garrison. The main access was in the east. The tower standing in the middle of the castle courtyard was the keep of the castle with an inner diameter of 350 centimeters and a wall thickness of 260 centimeters. The interior of the oval complex measured approximately 60 by 80 meters. The Raffenburg forms the center of a surrounding area with further fortifications and settlements.
All parts of the complex are still discoverable in the forest; the ruins are partly original, partly they were conserved in 1978, such as the cellar of the gatehouse.
Wilhelm Bleicher suspected a town in the vicinity of the castle. He postulated its founding by Duke Henry the Lion. However, there are no archaeological or historical indications for a dating to the 11th and 12th centuries.
The Raffenburg was first scientifically examined from a historical perspective in 1997 by the historian Andreas Korthals, now an archivist at the Hagen City Archives, as part of his master's thesis at the Ruhr University Bochum. A precise scientific archaeological examination is still pending.
In 2010, archaeologists and historians Michael Baales, Ralf Blank, and Jörg Orschiedt described the Raffenburg, its fortifications, and the settlement in its surroundings archaeologically and historically according to the current state of research.
Approximately 600 meters south of the Raffenburg is another rampart, the Franzosenschanze (French Redoubt); it cannot be precisely classified but probably belonged to the Raffenburg. Its moats are still visible in the forest today.
Raffenberg Monument+
The Raffenberg Monument is located approximately ten meters east of the castle grounds in the thicket, commemorating Emil Friedrich I von Bentheim-Tecklenburg. The sandstone monument dates from 1837 and was renovated in 1983.
The dedication on the front reads "Emil Friedrich, reigning Prince of Bentheim-Tecklenburg, born May 12, 1765, died April 17, 1835", on the right side it says "Beloved, mourned, in quiet peace, Noble one, you have departed from us. Your pious spirit, your lovely deeds will rest imperishable in our hearts.", on the left side "Sweet hope, beautiful faith, which teaches us reunion, grants comfort to the wanderer in the dust in the pain of separation" and on the back there is a Bible reference: "Gospel of John 14 Verses 16-19".
Legend+
According to legend, the wicked robber knight Humbert lived at Raffenburg. When he could no longer withstand a siege of his castle, he agreed with the enemy to surrender if his wife was allowed to leave with what she could carry three times. When this was granted, the strong woman first carried her husband and then her son out of the castle. The third time, she finally carried so much gold and jewelry out of the castle that she collapsed dead at the foot of the mountain.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: http://www.wehrbauten.de/thread.php?threadid=862
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 51.3522, 7.5575