-- Cruises

-- Vineyards

-- Cologne

---- Cathedral

---- Museum

-- Bonn

-- Remagen

-- Koblenz

-- Enemy Brothers

-- Schoenburg

-- Sankt Goar

-- Rheinfels

-- Marksburg

-- Gutenfels and Pfalz

-- Lorelei

-- Ruedesheim

-- Stahleck

-- Reichenstein

-- Rheinstein

---- Bingen Lodging

-- Lodging

-- Watertravel Home Page

-- Copyright © Don Douglas
-- http://www.dondouglas.com

One of the older, as well as smaller, castles on the Rhine is Burg Rheinstein. Originally a customs post for the German Empire, it was built roughly 1100 years ago on a sheer rock cliff rising 270 feet (83 meters) above the river. Directly across the river from Burg Rheinstein is Assmannshausen, a district of Rüdesheim (although the castle was built two centuries before the first known mention of Assmannshausen in 1108).

For a short period of time in the late 13th century, Rheinstein was the home of the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph von Habsburg. It was at the Rheinstein castle that he decreed a death sentence upon Philip von Hohenfels, outlaw proprietor of the nearby Reichenstein castle.

Today, Burg Rheinstein is privately owned but accessible year-round to visitors for a nominal entrance fee. There is a café offering pastries, coffee and a variety of Rhine wines, open from the end of March through the end of October.

More on Burg Rheinstein can be found here and here.