Burg Elkerhausen: A Former Water Castle in Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page8 sections
History
Burg Elkerhausen is a former lowland water castle in Germany, located in Elkerhausen, now part of the municipality of Weinbach in Hesse. Its original tower castle dates from the twelfth century and served as the ancestral seat of the Elkerhausen knightly family, first recorded in 1191. The family became extinct in 1725.
From tower castle to fortified residence
During the fourteenth century, the castle was enlarged into a water castle with an outer bailey, a fortified area beyond the main enclosure. Its defenses were described as impregnable, and control of the complex remained within the family through a Ganerbschaft, a system of joint inheritance and ownership by several family branches.
In 1352, an army enforcing the regional peace under Balduin of Trier, a medieval archbishop and territorial ruler, besieged the castle in the valley. The garrison agreed to an Urfehde, a formal renunciation of revenge or renewed hostility after a conflict. The castle was therefore slighted, meaning that its defenses were deliberately reduced, rather than destroyed. Some members of the family subsequently founded Neu-Elkerhausen, a hilltop castle on the Lahn opposite Gräveneck.
During the sixteenth century, the older Elkerhausen complex was rebuilt as a water palace. It acquired a five-towered polygonal ring wall, a defensive enclosure following several straight sides, together with a service courtyard. Later writings have often confused Burg Elkerhausen with Neu-Elkerhausen, mixing their separate histories.
Transfer to Nassau-Weilburg
The complex later came into the possession of the Lords Klüppel von Elkerhausen. In 1719, Franz Klüppel von Elkerhausen, the family’s last representative, sold the castle, its estates, and its associated rights to Nassau-Weilburg for 26,000 gulden. Nassau-Weilburg was a ruling branch of the House of Nassau. After the purchase, the property became a sovereign’s estate, and local farmers were already able to lease it in 1774.
Industrial and civic uses
In 1786, under Prince Karl Christian of Nassau-Weilburg, part of the castle was converted into a needle factory. The factory was privatized in 1820, continued operating until 1843, and closed in 1844. The municipality of Elkerhausen then bought the surviving half-timbered buildings. The cross-wing became a school, while the east wing was used as a residence. After the school moved to a new building in 1914, the cross-wing served as the municipal administration.
An art museum was later established at the complex. The two surviving half-timbered buildings have been privately owned since their sale in 1979. They were renovated in 1980. Both houses were entered in Hesse’s monument register for historical, artistic, and urban-planning reasons, while the site and the surviving parts of the castle were included in the protected Burgring ensemble for historical reasons.
Remains
Burg Elkerhausen occupies low-lying ground beside the Weinbach. The former defensive complex consisted of an outer bailey, a water-filled moat, and a towered main enclosure surrounded by a ring wall. The sixteenth-century palace had a five-towered polygonal wall and an associated service courtyard. The outer bailey, main enclosure, and moat no longer survive, with some of these elements removed only at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Surviving half-timbered wings
East wing
The principal surviving structure is essentially a two-wing half-timbered building. The older east wing probably dates from the early sixteenth century and is associated with the rebuilding around 1530 that followed the earlier castle complex. Its upper floor uses half-timbering, a structural timber frame filled with masonry or other material, while its lower section rests on a rubble-stone base built from irregularly broken stone over older cellars.
West wing and cross-wing
The west wing was attached to the middle of the east wing at a right angle around 1700. Together, the wings form the surviving core of the complex. Their interiors largely reflect alterations made during the nineteenth century, while the lower sections retain rubble-stone construction. The buildings preserve the layered fabric of a castle site that was adapted first as a residence and later for industrial and civic purposes.
