Kasselburg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kasselburg | |
|---|---|
Castilburg, Castelberch | |
| Pelm | |
 Kasselburg, aerial view from the west (2015) | |
| Site information | |
| Type | hill castle |
| Code | DE-RP |
| Condition | largely preserved |
| Location | |
  Kasselburg  Kasselburg | |
| Coordinates | 50°14′21″N 6°41′7″E / 50.23917°N 6.68528°E |
| Height | 490 m above sea level (NHN) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1100 bis 1200 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | nobility, counts, dukes |
The Kasselburg is a ruined hill castle on a 490-metre-high basalt massif in Pelm near Gerolstein in the county of Vulkaneifel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The symbol of the Kasselburg is its 37-metre-high, double tower, which functioned as a gate tower and tower house, whose origins are not precisely clear. Hitherto it had been assumed that the lords of Blankenheim had built it shortly after 1335, but structural investigations have shown that the tower underwent several phases of construction and cannot just be the work of one architect. The gate probably lost its guarding function with the expansion of the castle from 1452. It is from that period that the large outer bailey, with its burgmann houses and domestic buildings, dates.
The double tower is open to the public and has a good view of the surrounding area but, despite its size, is not a bergfried (fighting tower). The latter, built around 1200, is smaller and stands in the eastern part of the inner bailey. It has a square ground plan and was turned into a tower house in the 14th century.
Also part of the inner ward is the almost 33-metre-long palas, which dates to the 14th century.
