Top 13 Castles around Kerpen (Eifel)

The exact origins of Kerpen Castle are shrouded in the mists of history. It is considered very likely that its builder was Sigibertus de Kerpene, first mentioned in documents in 1136, or his son Heinrich I (1142–1177). However, an exact construction date cannot yet be given.

Very pretty little town but unfortunately absolutely dead.

A very beautiful castle above a great little town. Restorations are already well advanced. Definitely worth a visit

A great castle. It is privately owned and cannot be visited. The castle 🏰 is currently being restored. Beautiful forest area.

A beautiful ruin with an interesting past, which unfortunately has been demolished for building material.

Kerpen Castle towers imposingly over the town of the same name. The castle is a so-called spur castle on a dolomite spur at 500 m above sea level. NHN. The exact year of construction cannot be determined. However, the castle also had prominent owners in modern times: From 1907 to 1911, Kerpen Castle was owned by Clemens Manstein. In 1911 the Eifel painter Fritz von Wille von Clemens Manstein bought the castle and had urgent security and repair work carried out. When the artist died in 1941, he was buried on the hill behind the castle. In the same year, the DEMAG company bought the castle to use as a training center. In the 1950s, the company carried out further security, conversion and expansion measures. From 1969 to 2007, Kerpen Castle was owned by the district of Neuss, which used it as a country school. Then a Dutch family acquired the facility and underwent a major renovation in 2010. Most recently (2016) used as refugee accommodation, the castle was sold to an entrepreneurial family from Bonn in January 2018 and will be used for private residential purposes in the future. Therefore, a visit to the castle is unfortunately no longer possible. Nevertheless, care is taken to preserve the castle and that alone is worth a lot.

Even if the castle cannot be visited because it is privately owned, its location high above the village of Kerpen is very impressive and gives the beautiful village a certain charm. Kerpen Castle is a so-called spur castle, which lies on a rock or mountain spur, but below the hilltop or the mountain peak, unlike the summit castle, and thus steeply above the valley. It is characterized by a terrain formation that slopes steeply on at least two sides. The place is practically at the feet of the castle. The former owner and famous Eifel painter Fritz von Wille was buried on a hill behind the castle in 1941. For a long time afterwards, it served first as a training center and finally as a rural school center; from 2016 to 2018, refugees were accommodated here. The castle currently belongs to an entrepreneurial family from Bonn and has since been used only for private residential purposes.

Gerolstein Castle, also known as Löwenburg, Gerhardstein Castle or Junkernburg, is the ruin of a hilltop castle in the town of Gerolstein in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate. The Löwenburg was first mentioned in a document in 1115, when Gerhard von Blankenheim moved his seat of power to Gerhardstein Castle, which he had built (which is probably where the place name of Gerolstein derives from). In the 13th century, Gerhard IV expanded the castle into a fortified castle with a front and back castle. After the Blankenheimers died out, Gerhardstein Castle passed to the House of Loon-Heinsberg in 1423 and to Dietrich III, Count von Manderscheid in 1468. He divided his property between his three sons in 1488, with the second, Johann, inheriting the county of Blankenheim, Jünkerath, Gerolstein Castle and parts of the Mechernich lordship, and founding the Manderscheid-Blankenheim-Gerolstein line. In 1486 the castle was supplemented by two chapels. In the 16th century the shield wall was built with a thickness of two meters. In 1670 the castle was badly damaged by a lightning strike in the powder tower. On July 6, 1691, it was occupied by the French, but was recaptured on August 5 of the same year. In the process, Gerolstein is destroyed. In 1840 the castle was also known as the Jungkernburg. The remaining remains of the wall are partially removed in the 18th century and further destroyed in the Second World War. Today only a few remains stand, but they have been restored.