Location: Middle Rhein Map
Constructed: 1020 by Otto von Hammerstein
Hammerstein Castle or Burg Hammerstein am Rhein is located on the Eastern bank of the Rhine river in Germany. Very few ruins are left from the magnificent original building. Original fortress of Hammerstein Castle or Burg Hammerstein was build in 1020 by Otto von Hammerstein. In 1071 a new citadel was build here by Henry IV, king of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor. Remains of the 16 feet thick outer wall and the tower are still visible on a 196 meter high hill. Today it is hard to imagine that at certain time this castle was build and occupied by Henry IV who brought here his crown insignia. It served as a private imperial residence. However the castle was heavily damaged in the 17th century during the Thirty Years’ War and soon abandoned thereafter. Only a corner tower with few sectors of the wall are visible from the river. If you have time you can climb the steep hill side to reach military fortifications. Some of the locals reported finding small artefacts from centuries of castle occupation.
The complex was built in the 10th century by the Konradines in what
was then Engersgau and is therefore probably the oldest castle in the
Middle Rhine Valley. It was named in 1002 as an imperial castle. The
earlier assumptions of various authors that the filling wall technique
of the ring wall could indicate a Roman origin must be considered
outdated today. The burgraves of Hammerstein lived and ruled here until
about 1417, before the trace of this family is lost from a genealogical
point of view.
Otto von Hammerstein (Gaugraf im Engersgau)
entered into a marriage with his distant relative (in the 7th degree)
Irmingard, which was not recognized by the church due to power-political
considerations of the Mainz bishop Erkanbald (see Hammerstein marriage).
He did not abide by the decision to dissolve his marriage with Irmingard
at the Diet of 1018 and attacked the archbishop of Mainz. The castle was
then successfully besieged by Emperor Heinrich II in the autumn of 1020.
On December 26, starving, the defenders gave up the castle. Hammerstein
Castle then fell into disrepair.
The later Emperor Heinrich IV
had the castle restored in 1071. In 1105 he had the imperial insignia
fetched from here, which were kept at the castle when he was deposed in
Ingelheim by his son Heinrich V, who also kept the imperial insignia
there in 1125. In 1071 Hammerstein had a customs office and from 1215 a
mint. In 1225, the later Roman-German King Wilhelm von Holland visited
the castle.
In 1337 Oberhammerstein received city rights.
Hammerstein remained an imperial castle until Emperor Charles IV
transferred feudal sovereignty over the castle and its accessories to
the Electorate of Trier in 1374.
In 1431 Archbishop Raban of
Helmstatt pledged the castle and valley of Hammerstein to Count Ruprecht
of Virneburg and allowed him in 1434 to build 1500 guilders in the
castle.
1632-1646 the Spaniards occupied the castle during the
Thirty Years' War. 1646-1654 troops of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine used
it as a base for raids. It was held by its occupiers long after the end
of the war. Only after immense effort could it be taken by forces from
Electoral Trier and Wied. In 1654 the castle was razed by the troops of
the Electorate of Trier.
In 1815 the ruins fell to Prussia. The
castle has been owned by the Barons of Hammerstein since 1893.