Luxemburgisches Castle (Königstein)

The naming comes from Duke Adolph of Nassau, who was also Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and who commissioned the conversion into a castle.

After the County of Königstein was annexed by Kurmainz in 1581, an official residence for the Kurmainz chief bailiff Gernand von Schwallbach was built on the site of the present castle in 1581. This building was destroyed during the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War. Therefore, a new building was erected between 1686 and 1694. In the 18th century, this building was also affected by the influences of war. In 1810, the Renthof therefore became the seat of the bailiff. The former official building became the seat of the Nassau State Chief Bailiff's Office and the lower courts. In 1820, the property was sold to the wealthy Frankfurt leather merchant Georg Christian Dörr, who converted it into his summer residence. In 1858, Dörr's heirs sold the building to Duke Adolph. He expanded the small castle into a summer residence for his wife Adelheid Marie. The main building was significantly enlarged, and architect Gédéon Bordiau provided the former baroque official residence with its current facade from 1873 to 1876. From 1890, the building was referred to as the Luxembourg Castle.

In 1952, the use of the castle by the Luxembourg ruling family finally ended, and the valuable furniture was brought to Luxembourg. In 1959, a Frankfurt businessman acquired the building and rented it out as an office building, but without making the necessary maintenance investments. In 1970, the city of Königstein acquired the castle. After lengthy negotiations with the state of Hesse, the castle was renovated in 1979 for approximately 4.5 million DM (4.76 million Euros in today's purchasing power) and has been leased to the Hessian Ministry of Justice for use as a district court since 1981.