Ehrenburg

Brodenbach, Germany, Germany

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Ehrenburg is a spur castle ruin near Brodenbach in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate, perched on a rocky promontory above the Ehrbach valley—a Moselle tributary—serving as the fortified heart of a small imperial barony between the Moselle and Rhine rivers.

First mentioned in 1161 when Emperor Frederick Barbarossa awarded it amid disputes between Trier's archbishop and the Count Palatine, the 12th-century Staufer stronghold with its rectangular residential tower evolved into a Ganerbenburg shared by noble families like the Ehrenbergs, who allied with Waldeck, Schöneck, and Eltz knights against Trier in the 1331-1335 Eltz Feud.

Destroyed by French troops in 1689 during the War of the Palatine Succession, the privately owned site has been lovingly rebuilt since 1993 by volunteers using private funds, now hosting cultural events amid Hunsrück forests.