Bischofstein Castle (Germany)
Characteristics are its tall, cylindrical tower girt midway-up with white plaster and the ruinous walls of a small chapel adjoining.
The Baybach river, which carves gorges into the Hunsrück region of Rhineland-Palatinate, flowing into the Moselle opposite Bischofstein Castle.
Folk tales and old Moselle-area historiographies allege that Bischofstein Castle began as the palace for the Holy Bishop Nicetius (527-566).
[2] These tales are based upon a poem by Bishop Venantius Fortunatus (530– ~600), who traveled through the Rhine and Moselle regions with East Frankish King Chilbert around the year 566.
In the 22-verse comprehensive poem, which is entitled "De castello nicetil espiscopi Trevirensis super Mosellam", Fortunas describes the magnificent Castle of Nicetius as having 30 towers, a palace with marble columns and a mighty tower protecting it from across the Moselle.
The validity of this parchment was already being debated in the mid 18th century by historian and auxiliary bishop Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim.
By this time, Archdeacon of Trier Heinrich von Bolanden, who is documented as completing the construction of Burg Bischofstein.
This comes from a document dated June 10, 1242 in which von Bolanden promised to replace the Monasteries of Laach and Rumerdorf Schulden.
In this document, von Bolanden bequeathed the completed Burg Bischofstein unto the Church of Trier.
The conditions of the bestowal were such that he and all subsequent holders of his office would have a lifelong abode and that they should keep feudal responsibility over the Burg.
In 1688, during the War of the Grand Alliance, Louis XIV sent troops to weaken the Palatinate following its refusal to ratify the Truce of Regensburg.
The ruins of Burg Bischofstein, which at that time belong to the St. Castor monastery in Karden, were treated as such.
From 1941 to 1946 the Burg served as a sanitorium for soldiers and as a hospital and refugee safehouse under the leadership of Aenny Neuerburg.
On 29 June 1954 the Schullandheimverein (association for the construction of a school retreat center) of Fichte Gymnasium in Krefeld bought the Burg for only 80,000 DM (about $360,000 today).
Today, Burg Bischofstein is a designated and protected historical spot; not as an 800-year-old castle, but as an example of the architectural style of the 1930s.
The newly formed „Schullandheim Fichte-Gymnasium e. V.“ (association for the construction of a school retreat center) saw Burg Bischofstein, with its structural condition and spacious layout, as most fitting.
The very same year, with great effort, the most basic facilities were purchased and the bedrooms, living rooms and the kitchen were renovated and equipped.
The tower, 20 metres (66 ft) tall, is easily recognizable by the white ring about halfway up its height.
At the height of the ring there was originally a wooden parapet which was destroyed by fire in 1689 and so burned itself into the wall of the tower.
One explains that bands of robbers regularly attacked tradesmen on the trade route that the Burg protected.
