Burg Drachenfels
Ruins of Drachensfels castle in Königswinter, Germany.
Situated atop the eponymous hill in the Siebengebirge, Drachenfels castle was one of three castles (the others being Rolandseck and Wolkenburg) which were built in the 12th century to protect the south of the Episcopate of Cologne and control shipping on the Rhine. Construction likely began in the early 1140s. As archbishop Arnold I was, however, in financial difficulties (as well as in search of political support following his suspension by the Pope), the unfinished castle was transfered to Gerhard von Are, provost of the nearby collegiate church of St. Cassius in Bonn in 1149.
From the late 12th century on, the Drachenfels was the fief of the Burggraves of Drachenfels until 1530. While the protective function of the castle became less signficant by the 13th century, when Bonn was fortified, it once again gained military importance during the Cologne War in the 16th cenutry. In the Thirty Years War, the castle was destroyed and never rebuilt.
Complete destruction of the ruins was only narrowly avoided in the 19th century: the Drachenfels had been used for Trachyte quarrying since Roman times and in 1788, a large part of the ruin collapsed. By the early 19th century, calls to preserved both mountain and ruin became louder and the Drachenfels was purchased by the state of Prussia to preserve it. The ruin had become a motif of Romanticism (including the poem The Castled Crag of Drachenfels by Lord Byorn) and a popular tourist destination.
Burg Drachenfels
Ruins of Drachensfels castle in Königswinter, Germany.
Situated atop the eponymous hill in the Siebengebirge, Drachenfels castle was one of three castles (the others being Rolandseck and Wolkenburg) which were built in the 12th century to protect the south of the Episcopate of Cologne and control shipping on the Rhine. Construction likely began in the early 1140s. As archbishop Arnold I was, however, in financial difficulties (as well as in search of political support following his suspension by the Pope), the unfinished castle was transfered to Gerhard von Are, provost of the nearby collegiate church of St. Cassius in Bonn in 1149.
From the late 12th century on, the Drachenfels was the fief of the Burggraves of Drachenfels until 1530. While the protective function of the castle became less signficant by the 13th century, when Bonn was fortified, it once again gained military importance during the Cologne War in the 16th cenutry. In the Thirty Years War, the castle was destroyed and never rebuilt.
Complete destruction of the ruins was only narrowly avoided in the 19th century: the Drachenfels had been used for Trachyte quarrying since Roman times and in 1788, a large part of the ruin collapsed. By the early 19th century, calls to preserved both mountain and ruin became louder and the Drachenfels was purchased by the state of Prussia to preserve it. The ruin had become a motif of Romanticism (including the poem The Castled Crag of Drachenfels by Lord Byorn) and a popular tourist destination.