Hammerstein castle

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Hammerstein Castle (Burg Hammerstein) is the ruin of a 10th-century mountain castle in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the oldest in this entire Middle Rhine Valley. The ruin of one of its watchtowers still overlooks the Rhine at an altitude of 195 m, near the village of Hammerstein. The Rheinsteig hiking trail passes close to the ruins which can be reached via a small path. The ruins are situated on top of a hill on the east Rhine banks, south of the village of Hammerstein in the district of Neuwied in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The federal road B 42 runs besides the hill within the valley. Built in the 10th century by the Conradines (the technique of filling the enclosure wall would even indicate a Roman origin), this castle is mentioned, in the year 1000, as an imperial castle (Reichsburg) of the Holy Roman Empire. The burgraves of Hammerstein lived and ruled here until around 1417, before the genealogical traces of this family were lost. The place is known, among other things, for the story of Otto von Hammerstein, Count of Engersgau, who entered into a marriage with his distant relative (in the 7th degree) Ermengarde de Verdun, daughter of Godfrey the Captive, Count of Verdun, and Mathilde de Saxony († 1008). This espousal was not recognized by the church and considered illegal. Complications ensued between 1018 and 1027, involving Archbishop Erkanbald of Mainz and even Holy Roman Emperor Henry II.