Top 8 Castles around Demerath

The Electoral Office Building in Daun is a historic building located on the basalt cone of an extinct volcano in the heart of the district town in the Volcanic Eifel region. Today, it is used as the Electoral Office Building Dauner Burg, a castle-hotel located at Burgfriedstraße 28. The site has a long history, dating back to 700 BC as a Celtic refuge and around 50 BC as a fortified Roman lookout. The actual Daun Castle, the ancestral seat of the Lords of Daun, was built towards the end of the 9th century. After the Thirty Years' War, the castle was destroyed in 1689 by troops of the French King Louis XIV. The current Office Building was built in 1712 by Charles Joseph, Elector of Trier and Duke of Lorraine, as a hunting lodge and official residence, after parts of the castle had been restored. This official residence housed the Electorate of Trier's bailiffs and official waiters, who administered the large Daun district as administrative officials of the Elector of Trier. The building complex also included the tithe barn, built in 1740, which served to store the delivered goods. After the end of the Electorate of Trier during the French Revolution in 1793 and the French occupation (1794–1815), the castle became Prussian state property. During this period, the official residence house was used, among other things, as the Royal Forestry Office and, for a time, even housed a prayer room for the Protestant congregation. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate assumed sovereignty in 1948, until the city of Daun became owner of the castle in 1957. In 1978, the official residence house became private property. Between 1979 and 1981, the castle was expanded and extended into what is now the Schloss-Hotel Kurfürstliches Amtshaus, a first-class hotel that houses, among other things, a remarkable clock collection. The hotel offers its guests a combination of historic furnishings and modern comforts, as well as a wellness oasis with a pool and saunas.

The lower castle has completely disappeared. You can still see the beginning of the ring that connected the lower castle and the Ulmen city wall, a two-story outer wall of the palace, as well as a cistern and some foundation walls of other buildings. The old part of Ulmen Castle was built around 1074 AD and likely rests on the remains of a Roman settlement. In the Middle Ages, Ulmen Castle was further expanded and divided into the upper castle, whose remains of the walls still exist, and the lower castle, which extended to the banks of the maar river. Two knightly families lived in the castle, which is believed to have never been attacked or destroyed until 1673 due to its size. Only the Sun King's troops succeeded. It was rebuilt, but fell again in 1689 during the War of the Succession. However, Ulmen Castle was also rebuilt this time, with only the city wall being abandoned. With the invasion of Napoleon's soldiers, Ulmen also became French and later Prussian. The empty castle, whose last descendant died in 1801, was auctioned to a merchant from Cochem, who sold it as a quarry. When a devastating fire burned Ulmen to the ground in the 19th century, the residents of Ulmen rebuilt their houses with stones from the castle. That's why you can still see a coat of arms on some of the stables today. It wasn't until the early twentieth century that Ulmen Castle was declared a listed building and became the property of the municipality of Ulmen. The castle is always freely accessible.

Strenuous but beautiful next to the babbling brook

A nice viewpoint. which invites you to take a short break

Climbing prohibited. Something could happen.

Climbing high is really forbidden! Besides, you wouldn't see much anyway. ;-)

The Entersburg, also known as Nantersburg, is a late medieval spur castle northeast of Hontheim in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate. The castle was probably built at the end of the 11th century by the "lords of Nantersburg" and destroyed in 1138 by the Archbishop of Trier, Albero von Montreuil. Findings made in 1978 and 1979 as part of an archaeological excavation by the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier provided evidence that Celts and Romans already had fortifications on the later castle grounds. Today the Steffenswarte, an observation tower built in 1895, reminds of the location of the castle. The Entersburg lay on a multi-tiered rocky ridge above the lower Üßbachtal in the Moseleifel. The maximum 262.2 m above sea level. NHN high plateau on which the castle stood is about 250 meters long and up to 130 meters wide. In the west, north and east, the castle was protected by steep slopes to the Üßbachtal, which was about 60 meters below. Access to the tower is currently (May 2022) not possible due to dilapidation. The castle site is freely accessible. The way up here via great, narrow paths is definitely worth it!

Certainly one of the nicer stages of the Eifelsteig. A good part of the way leads along the Lieser, which is one of the most beautiful hiking trails in Germany.