Burg in Hayn: A Medieval Water Castle in Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page10 sections
History
Burg in Hayn was a medieval water castle in Germany, south of Obertshausen, probably serving as the ancestral seat of the noble lords of Hausen. Built as a representational and defensive complex, it later passed through the hands of related noble families before being abandoned by the end of the fourteenth century.
The Lords of Hausen and Hagenhausen
The castle was associated with the lords of Hausen, who descended from the old counts of the Maingau and were related to the lords of Hagenhausen. Wigger von Hausen and Gottfried von Hausen appear in records from 1130 and 1151 as landowners and may have had connections with the castle.
After the lords of Hausen died out, Burg in Hayn passed to their relatives, the lords of Hagenhausen. In 1124, Udalrich von Hagenhausen donated the castle to Adalbert, the archbishop of Mainz. An archbishop was a senior Christian church leader who could also hold extensive territorial power in the medieval German Empire.
The Eppstein Period and Abandonment
In 1173, rights over Obertshausen, the adjoining lands, and the castle passed to the lords of Eppstein, a noble family whose influence extended across the central Rhine-Main region. The Eppsteins had emerged from the Hagenhausen family. By the end of the fourteenth century at the latest, the castle had been abandoned.
The Steinheim land register of 1576 still mentioned the castle and described nine morgen of woodland around it, adjoining Eppstein territory. In later centuries, ownership of Obertshausen and the castle site changed repeatedly. The counts of Schönborn held the property from 1664, it passed to the princes of Isenburg-Birstein in 1806, and it became part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1816.
Quarrying, Excavation, and Memory
The remains were gradually dismantled because the site served as a quarry. Agricultural use of the land further damaged the surviving archaeological fragments. Excavations in 1964 and 1974 attempted to establish the approximate dimensions of the complex. Karl Nahrgang led the 1964 investigation, while Klaus Ulrich directed the 1974 work that identified the castle’s round tower.
The name “Hayn,” meaning “in the forest,” has been interpreted as a reference to a refuge or retreat castle. The complex itself was built for both representation and defense, so the name may have been added after the site had lost its strategic importance. The former water castle appeared on Obertshausen’s coat of arms until 1977, when Obertshausen merged with Hausen and the municipality adopted a new design.
Remains
Burg in Hayn was a lowland water castle, probably arranged as a motte, meaning a fortified site built around a raised earthen mound. Constructed from stone and earth, the complex occupied an area of approximately 28 by 31 metres. A wall about 2.20 metres thick enclosed it, while a water-filled moat followed the wall at a distance of roughly one metre.
Castle Enclosure
Wall and Moat
The enclosing wall formed the principal defensive boundary of the castle. Its surrounding ring moat was the main original feature to survive, although it can now be discerned only in part. The moat’s position around the wall reflects the site’s character as a water-protected castle in the lowland landscape.
Central Tower
Round Tower
A tower stood at the centre of the complex. The 1974 excavation established that it was round, adding an important element to the reconstruction of the castle’s plan. Only a few original stone fragments and wall remains survive today.
Reconstructed Ruin and Watercolour
All masonry now visible above ground was rebuilt in modern times to illustrate the former layout, so the present structure is an artificial ruin rather than an untouched medieval building. A local story says that two residents of Hausen found a sketch of the castle at a Frankfurt flea market in the late nineteenth century. Unable to buy it, they copied the drawing and commissioned a Mainz painter to make a watercolour from their copy. The story has not been verified, and the resulting image shows a fanciful fairy-tale castle unrelated to the historical complex. The watercolour and sketches of the historical castle can be viewed at Obertshausen’s local-history museum.
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