One of the big features of Rhine river cruises and tourism in the Middle Rhine area is the array of castles on hilltops and shorelines. But until I spent a day or so between Koblenz and Mainz seeing them literally by the dozens, I hadn’t spent too much time wondering why there are so many.
Burg Maus (Mouse Castle) was built by Trier as a defense for its toll rights, which were under threat from the rogue Counts of Katznelnbogen. Below, in the town of Wellmich, St Martin’s church and its tower.
And the answer, as it so often is, is wealth and power, and in this case trade. The Rhine has been a key trade route through central Europe since before Roman times, and often a border between powers. And what ruler, or what robber, has not looked at rich caravans or barges passing by and not throught “I could get a piece of that!”
Could you call that rivalry a ‘cat-and-mouse game?’ Perhaps; one of the other side’s main fortifications was Burg Katz, or Cat Castle, now a hotel. All of these castles have some form of fortified tower; sometimes it’s the only way to recognize it as older than its 19th-century hotel renovations.
And so, starting mostly in the 11th century, the rulers of the duchies, marches, principalities and other micro-states that ruled much of the area, turned their attention lightly away from feudal agriculture and toward taking a role in the growing commerce of the late medieval era.
Right across the river from Maus is what looks like the most ruined of the lot, Burg Rheinfels, the sibling of Cat. Despite the ruined main building, the outer buildings house a hotel and wellness centre. Before it was destroyed by Napoleon’s troops, it was the largest castle on the Rhine.
In the area we’re talking about, the river flows through a narrow gorge, where it’s relatively easy to stop traffic and collect tolls or provide other services at fortified towns along the way. In the beginning, for a couple of centuries, the system was controlled; the Holy Roman Emperor gave toll rights to a limited number of nobles and bishops.
It’s certainly not all castles along the Rhine; one of the main industries these days is not tolls but grapes; the Rhine Gorge is an important wine-producing center. And, of course, not all the really old houses are castles.
The authorized collectors built castles and toll collection points along the banks, collected taxes, and ensured that the traders passed unmolested to the next greedy potentate. That system fell apart in 1250 when the Emperor died and there was no quickly-agreed successor. Robber barons—anyone with enough power to build a strongpoint—set themselves up to collect tolls.
Not a toll collector, but intimately connected to the area, Lorelei is the subject of legends and literature in which she is either a tragic victim of love or lures sailors to their death—or both. Named for a nearby rock that once had a waterfall-created murmur; Lorelei may be from Rhine dialect and Celtic for a murmuring rock. The statue dates to 1983.
Eventually this led to wars against the robber barons; some were forced out, their riverside castles destroyed; others were able to stay in business, making themselves harder to attack by building their castles further up the hillside.
Burg Heimberg at Niederheimbach advertises its trade up-front
Was there a difference between the robber barons and the ‘legitimate’ trade toll agents? It may not have felt that way to the traders, but some have argued that while the robber barons just took the money, the others used tolls to support development of towns, artisans and more trade.
Some of the Rhine fortifications, of course, are in the towns directly on the river. Haagsturm, at Oberwesel, top, was Roterturm or Red Tower until it took the name of a 19th century artisan who used it as a workshop.
One of the most famous and unusual castles, Pfalzgrafenstein. This last is on an island that is now closer to share than when it was active; ships needed to pass between it and the town. or face strong rapids on its other side. Very effective; it even had a chain that could close off the channel!
In any case, the castles of the Rhine, like the fantastic castles of Bavaria’s mad king Ludwig, have had a glorious second act in the growth of tourism in southern Germany. The Rhine castles, in particular, with extensive modifications have provided not a few luxury hotels. Even some of the picturesque ruins are attached to operating businesses.
