Wildenburg Castle (Eifel)

The Wildenburg lies in the North Rhine-Westphalian part of the Eifel Mountains in the national park district of Hellenthal in the German county of Euskirchen.

Wildenburg Castle
Burg Wildenburg
Hellenthal
The Wildenburg in 1997
Wildenburg Castle is located in North Rhine-Westphalia
Wildenburg Castle
Wildenburg Castle
Wildenburg Castle is located in Germany
Wildenburg Castle
Wildenburg Castle
Coordinates50°27′43″N 6°29′39″E / 50.461971°N 6.494089°E / 50.461971; 6.494089
Typehill castle, spur castle
CodeDE-NW
Height526 m above sea level (NHN)
Site information
Conditionpreserved
Site history
Built1202 to 1235
Garrison information
Occupantsnobles, counts, clerics
The Wildenburg around 1618
A Hansa Luftbild aerial photograph of the Wildenburg from 1932
Wildenburg, 2016 aerial photograph

The castle was built between 1202 and 1235 and is one of the few hill castles in the Eifel that has not been destroyed by war or demolition. It was the centre of gravity of a territorial lordship that extended in the west as far as the present border with Belgium and in the east reached the gates of Steinfeld Abbey. As in the Middle Ages the castle may only be accessed on a single road, today the Landesstraße 22, which runs from the valley of the Reifferscheider Bach via Steinfeld into the valley of the River Urft.

References

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Literature

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  • Roland Günter (1989), Kunstreiseführer Rheinland (in German), Bintlach: Gondrom Verlag, ISBN 3-8112-0592-7
  • Harald Herzog: Burgen und Schlösser. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne, 1989, ISBN 3-7927-1067-6.
  • Manfred Konrads: Die Geschichte der Herrschaft Wildenburg in der Eifel. Handprese Weilerswist, Euskirchen, 2001, ISBN 3-935221-08-8.
  • Ernst Wackenroder (rev.): Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Schleiden. Verlag Schwann, Düsseldorf, 1932. (Nachdruck: Verlag Schwann-Bagel, Düsseldorf 1982, ISBN 3-590-32116-4)
  • Werner Paravicini (ed.): Höfe und Residenzen im spätmittelalterlichen Reich. Grafen und Herren, Teilband 2, Ostfildern, 2012, ISBN 978-3-7995-4525-9
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