Germany · Partial ruin
Dillenburger Schloss
Dillenburg Castle sits on a steep hill above the Dill river in the town of Dillenburg, Hesse. Founded in the 13th century, it was the Nassau family seat and the birthplace of William of Orange in 1533; the principal medieval buildings were demolished in 1760, and today only fragments of the later fortifications survive alongside a 19th-century lookout tower on the site.
Its prime
1650
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1650
The shape it held in its prime.
Perched on a rounded hill above a bend of the Dill river, the castle is a compact cluster of stone and half-timbered buildings with steep, pitched slate roofs and many stepped gables; several square and cylindrical towers with conical or pyramidal roofs rise above the roofline. Encircling curtain walls and low bastioned earthworks of 17th-century design enclose terraces that fall to the walled market town on the lower slopes; the complex reads as a fortified hilltop borough.
Its story
The story of Dillenburger Schloss.
Dillenburg Castle was founded about 1240 by Count Henry the Rich of Nassau on a hill above the River Dill in Hesse. It became the seat of the Nassau family, and in 1533 the birthplace of Prince William of Orange. In the town below, the former Johanniskirche of 1491 — Evangelical since 1530 — holds the vault of the princes of Nassau-Dillenburg.
The main building of the old castle was deconstructed in 1760 after suffering cannon damage in the Seven Years' War. Nothing at all remains of the original fortifications, which were mostly wood; what stands on the hill today are ruins of the 17th-century fortifications, joined in the 19th century by a lookout tower on the site.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1650.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Dillenburger Schloss — including 2 interiors: inner ward courtyard, curtain walk and battlements. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Dillenburger Schloss with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1650 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Dillenburger Schloss.
The families that held Dillenburger Schloss for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Nassau
Founded by Count Henry the Rich of Nassau about 1240; seat of the Nassau family and birthplace of William of Orange in 1533.
