SCHÖNBURG CASTLE
The Schönburg was first built between 911 and 1166 AD. mentioned in history.
Until the 17th century, the castle experienced a very eventful and warlike history with tribal battles and family feuds.
In the 12th century, the Schönburgers took over the previously royal churches into their fiefs and also had the right to collect customs duties on the Rhine. They also ruled Oberwesel almost without exception as imperial bailiffs until the beginning of the 13th century.
The Schönburg is one of the few heir castles in which, after the father's death, the civil inheritance passed equally to all sons and not - as is generally the case - only to the eldest son.
So it happened that at its peak in the 14th century, the Schönburg housed 24 different families with a total of around 250 people.
Friedrich von Schönburg earned the highest fame of the entire Oberwesel family of Schönburg as a lieutenant general and colonel in the French, Portuguese and Prussian service and under the name “Marshall Schomberg”.
During the War of the Palatinate Succession in 1689, French troops set fire to the town of Oberwesel and also the Schönburg. The Schönburg remained a ruin two centuries after its destruction. Victor Hugo once described it as one of the most admirable ruins of Europe. The Schönburger family died out in the male line with the son of Friedrich von Schönburg.
After repeated changes of owners (including Prince Albrecht of Prussia), the German-American Rhinelander took possession of the castle. By 1914, he had used over 2 million gold marks to restore the castle. The city of Oberwesel was able to buy the Schönburg back from the American's son in 1950. The Schönburg has been leased to the Hüttl family since 1957, and has been under long-term lease since 1983, now in the third generation. (Source: Wikipedia)