10 Most Beautiful Castles In Germany

Going to a German castle is like going into a fairy tale. The castles are built on steep mountain peaks, and their towers and domes rise. Germany is known for its castles, which have histories full of heroes, dukes, and the destruction of wars. The castles have a long past and have been brought back to their former glory. The owners’ families still live in the castles. Their valuables include guns, drawings, items from the past, and furniture.

Reichsburg Cochem

Around 1000, a Palatinate count built the Reichsburg Castle in Cochem. It changed hands when an emperor sold it to pay for his coronation. In the 1600s, French King Louis XIV attacked and almost destroyed the area. The castle was rebuilt in a Neo-Gothic style. It is on a hill with a view of the Moselle River and has a great collection of Renaissance and Baroque furniture.

Mespelbrunn Castle

In the early 1400s, a knight built a small house on the water that became Mespelbrunn Castle. The castle is in the Spessart forest, halfway between Frankfurt and Wurzburg. It doesn’t have the gingerbread look of other German castles, but its simple beauty makes it one of Germany’s most popular water castles.

Some people have even said it’s one of the most beautiful houses in Europe. People in this family own this house in northern Bavaria, but they let guests stay there all year. Visitors in the past have said that you should walk around the castle grounds on the trails that are there.

Wartburg

Wartburg Castle was built in the 1100s, but it became famous in the 1300s. It is in Eisenach, where Martin Luther stayed while he finished translating the Bible in the early 1600s. In the 1900s, Adolf Hitler wanted the castle to remove its cross and put up a swastika instead. The castle is one of the best-preserved ancient castles in Germany. Tourists can hike up a steep hill or take a shuttle bus to get there.

Lichtenstein Castle

Lichtenstein Castle is one of Germany’s newest castles. It was only built in the 1800s to honor the knights of Lichtenstein in the Middle Ages. Even as early as the 12th century, there was a castle on the spot. It was broken down until the current castle was built. It stands tall on top of a hill and can be reached by a stone bridge across another mountain. The Neo-Gothic castle is in the Swabian Alps, close to Honau. It is famous for its collection of old guns and armor.

Schwerin Castle

Before Schwerin Castle, there was a castle on an island in the main lake of Schwerin. This is where Schwerin Castle is now. In the Middle Ages, it was home to the grand dukes of Mecklenburg. In the 1900s, it was a museum and a college for kindergarten teachers.

The castle is now a museum and a government building for the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament. People interested in the supernatural should look for Petermännchen, the local ghost who has been seen dressed in clothes from the 1600s. The castle has many towers and spires and is an excellent example of a European historic building.

Heidelberg Castle

The Heidelberg castle is 80 meters (260 ft) up the northern side of a hill. It has a great view of Heidelberg’s old town center and is one of the most important Renaissance buildings north of the Alps. The first castle was built in the 1300s, and since then, it has had a long and troubled past.

The castle was destroyed during the Thirty Years War and again by the French in the 1600s. In 1764, lightning struck it, and its stones were even used to build new homes in Heidelberg. Different architectural types have been used to rebuild the castle over the years, which adds to its charm.

Hohenschwangau Castle

When Maximillian II was still Crown Prince, he found Hohenschwangau Castle. He was Ludwig II’s father. He was pleased with the area where he found it. Despite being in bad shape, he bought the castle and had it fixed up. Maximillian used it as a shooting camp and a summer home after work. When he died in 1864, he took over as king. Since he never got married, his mother lived here until the end of her life. It’s in the village of Hohenschwangau, which is close to the town of Füssen.

Burg Eltz

Burg Eltz Castle is located between Koblenz and Trier, close to the Moselle River. Built in the 1200s, it has been the historical home of the Rübenach, Rodendorf, and Kempenich families. Some of the original furniture is still in the castle, which is in the middle of a forest on top of a big rock. It has an attractive ancient building and has never been in a war, adding to its uniqueness. European people think its armory is the best in the world because it is full of gold and silver objects, as well as china and jewelry.

Hohenzollern Castle

On top of Mount Hohenzollern, the castle was built in the 1100s. Over the years, the old house was destroyed, and now only the church is left. In the mid-1800s, King Frederick William IV of Prussia built the castle we see today. About 50 km (30 miles) south of Stuttgart is the castle, the original home of the Hohenzollern family.

Emperors and kings have come from this family. These days, the house is a unique museum. It’s full of valuable things, like the crowns that Prussian kings wore and Frederick the Great’s outfit. This castle is privately owned and one of the most popular places in Germany.

Neuschwanstein Castle

The building that gets the most pictures in Germany is Neuschwanstein Castle, one of Europe’s most popular tourist spots. Walt Disney got the idea for Sleeping Beauty Castle from this fairy-tale castle in the stunning Bavarian Alps near the town of Fussen. Neuschwanstein was built in the late 1800s, but unlike most castles, it wasn’t built to defend anything.

Instead, Ludwig II of Bavaria built this castle as a make-believe vacation spot. Every room has stunning lights and lovely paintings. The third floor is dedicated to Ludwig’s love of swan scenes from operas by the famed composer Richard Wagner, whom Ludwig greatly loved.

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