Blankenstein Castle (Ruin) (Gladenbach)

Blankenstein Castle is a ruined castle near the town of Gladenbach in the west of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (Hesse).

The hilltop castle was probably built before 1237 to secure a trade route, specifically to protect the formerly important "strada publica", also known as the "Cologne-Leipzig Road" or "Brabant Road", which ran about 1 km to the north. The castle was owned by the Lords of Merenberg. The castellan was Ernst von Rodheim, who was expelled from the castle by the von Nordeck and von Biedenfeld families with the support of the Archbishop of Mainz. The castle was then captured in 1248 by Landgravine Sophie of Hesse (Sophie of Brabant), as it was in the hands of her opponents. Along with other castles in the area, it was destroyed to secure the Hessian inheritance for her underage son Heinrich. From 1255, the Landgravine had the castle rebuilt. Afterwards, it was enfeoffed to Gottfried von Rotenstein and Senand von Buseck.

In 1478, Archbishop Ruprecht of the Palatinate of Cologne was held captive here.

In 1647, the castle was destroyed. In 1648, a new administrative building was erected in the ruins. Today, only some ruins remain, which can be visited.