Germany · Ruin
Fürstenberg Castle (Höingen)
Burg Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg Castle is a medieval hill castle ruin above the former village of Höingen near the Ruhr in North Rhine-Westphalia. Built for the Archbishop of Cologne and first recorded in 1295, it gave its name to the local noble House of Fürstenberg and was repeatedly contested and rebuilt in the early 14th century. Today the site is marked by ring-shaped ramparts, scattered masonry remains and the later chapel on the hilltop.
First raised
1295
Its prime
1313
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1313
What Fürstenberg Castle (Höingen) looked like in its prime.
Perched on a wooded hill above the Ruhr, the castle comprised two fortified enclosures: a compact stone inner bailey on the rocky eminence called Richters Köpfchen and an outer bailey toward the hilltip where a chapel stands. The defences took the form of a roughly ring-shaped system of medieval earth-and-stone ramparts with stone-built domestic and defensive ranges within; masonry is of local rubble stone. In prime condition roofs covered the internal ranges and the chapel occupied the tip of the hill.
Its story
The story of Fürstenberg Castle (Höingen).
Fürstenberg Castle was built around 1295 on a high point above the Ruhr as a castle of the Archbishop of Cologne, one of the prince electors of the Holy Roman Empire. The site was called the Prince's Hill, Fürstenberg, and lent its name to the House of Fürstenberg, beginning with the Imperial Knight Hermann, the vassal who held the castle for the prince. Hermann came from the family of Binolen in the Hönnetal, but the family later named itself after its administrative seat.
The castle stood in the front line of Cologne's feuds with the counts of the Mark. Count Everd of the Mark destroyed it in 1303–04; Archbishop Henry rebuilt it in 1307–09 and signed two documents there in December 1309; Count Engelbert II of the Mark destroyed it again in 1311; the bishop rebuilt it in 1313; and in 1343–44 the counts of Arnsberg and of the Mark destroyed it for good, the town of Neheim taking over the defensive role in the area.
The Fürstenbergs afterwards lived as castellans in Werl, and around 1365–70 built Waterlappe Castle, which became their family seat in 1633. On the hilltop the ring-shaped medieval ramparts survive in the woods as a protected site: the large Oldenburg rampart system containing the castle chapel, recorded since 1429, and the remains of the small stone castle on 'Richters Köpfchen' lower down.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1313.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Fürstenberg Castle (Höingen), including 4 interiors: inner bailey on richters köpfchen, outer bailey at the chapel site, oldenburg rampart system and castle chapel and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Fürstenberg Castle (Höingen) with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1313, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Fürstenberg Castle (Höingen).
The families that held Fürstenberg Castle (Höingen) for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Fürstenberg
Held for the Archbishops of Cologne from c. 1295 by the Imperial Knight Hermann and his descendants, who took the name Fürstenberg from the castle.
