Runkel Castle country Germany
Runkel Castle (German: Burg Runkel), a ruined hill castle from the High Middle Ages, is located in the city of Runkel in the Landkreis of Limburg-Weilburg in the state of Hesse.Location
Nestled in the valley of the Lahn River, the town and castle are, in a straight line, 3.75 mi (6.04 km) east of Limburg an der Lahn, 18.6 mi (29.9 km) southwest of Wetzlar and 37 mi (60 km) northwest of Frankfurt am Main. The hill fort is situated at 492 ft (150 m) above sea level and rises about 115 to 131 ft (35 to 40 m) above the valley of the Lahn.During the Thirty Years War, in 1634, the Croats under the command of an Imperial General, Graf von Isolani, burned the city and castle of Runkel. The Upper Castle was left in the ruins while the Lower Castle was rebuilt in 1642.
In 1692 Friedrich von Wied-Runkel left to his grandson Maximilian Heinrich von Wied-Runkel the Upper County of Wied, especially enlarged with Isenburg, which had belonged to the Lower County of Wied until then, and the County of Wied-Runkel was born.
In the eighteenth century, the castle often changed its name and banners as the armies of various countries moved back and forth across the valley of the Lahn. The banners flew above the Castle for the Electorate of Hannover in 1719, the Electorate of Saxony in 1758, the Kingdom of France in 1759, and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1796 (after a night-long fight with the French in the streets of Runkel). In 1791, the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II, raised the County of Wied-Runkel to the rank of principality.
Under the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine (German, Rheinbundakte), the Principality lost its independence in 1806 and went to the newly created Duchy of Nassau on the other side of the Lahn River. The Duchy had been carved out of the old Grand Duchy of Cleves and Berg (whose remaining lands went to Prussia in 1813) but it lasted for only 60 years before it was annexed in 1866 by Prussia. In the beginning, for several years, Prince Karl Ludwig Friedrich Alexander von Wied, demoted to a minor nobleman, was the administrator of the new District of Runkel for his superiors, the Dukes of Nassau.
But Prince Karl was one of the last two surviving male members of the House of Wied-Runkel. He died in March 1824, followed a month later by his childless brother, Prince Friedrich Ludwig. The Wied-Runkel line went into the night with the brothers, leaving the Castle to the Wied-Neuwied line and its head, Prince Johann Karl August von Wied, their father's third cousin.Today, the castle is owned by Maximillian, Prince of Wied who lives however at Neuwied Castle. Runkel castle houses a museum, a chapel, an archive and the private wing of the owner's great uncle Metfried, Prince of Wied. The Upper Castle is still in ruins and inaccessible to visitors but it is still possible to enter the main keep.
Nation State Land Territory