Wenigenburg Castle (Ruin) (Amöneburg)

The Wenigenburg is a castle ruin near the Central Hessian small town of Amöneburg in the district of Marburg-Biedenkopf. The ruin is located at an altitude of approximately 285 m above sea level, south of the town of Amöneburg.

Whether the castle was structurally connected to the town fortifications of Amöneburg is unclear, but possible. Parts of the rampart, the curtain wall, two cellars, and the foundations of the square keep are preserved from the castle.

According to archaeological findings, the Wenigenburg was probably built in the second half of the 12th century as an outer bailey of Amöneburg Castle. The first mentions occurred in 1248 and 1267 in documents as "pervus castrum" ("small castle" or "new castle"). The Wenigenburg was in the hands of Mainz castlemen. They came from the families of Nordeck (Nordeck Castle), Volpert (unknown origin), and von Trohe (Trohe).

During the conflict between Landgrave Heinrich and Kurmainz, Hessian soldiers occupied the castle in 1273. Kurmainz was only able to recapture the castle in 1278. After the Landgraves had established themselves in Hesse around 1280, the castle lost its importance. From 1347 to 1463, it was pledged to the Schenk von Schweinsberg family, and from 1463 to 1469 to the Imperial Counts of Schlitz genannt von Görtz.

Around 1491, the castle was already in ruins. In 1640, during the Thirty Years' War, a siege battery was installed in the castle ruin. In his view of Amöneburg printed in 1655, Matthäus Merian referred to the castle as Brickberg.

In 1985, the complex was reconstructed.