Wildenburg Castle | |
Native Name: | Burg Wildenburg |
Built: | 1202 to 1235 |
Type: | hill castle, spur castle |
Condition: | preserved |
Location: | Hellenthal |
Occupants: | nobles, counts, clerics |
Coordinates: | 50.462°N 6.4941°W |
Map Type: | North Rhine-Westphalia#Germany |
Code: | DE-NW |
The Wildenburg lies in the North Rhine-Westphalian part of the Eifel Mountains in the national park district of Hellenthal in the German county of Euskirchen.
The castle was built between 1202 and 1235 and is one of the few hill castles in the Eifel that has not been destroyed by war or demolition. It was the centre of gravity of a territorial lordship that extended in the west as far as the present border with Belgium and in the east reached the gates of Steinfeld Abbey. As in the Middle Ages the castle may only be accessed on a single road, today the Landesstraße 22, which runs from the valley of the Reifferscheider Bach via Steinfeld into the valley of the River Urft.