Pfalzgrafenstein Castle

Kaub, Germany, Germany

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Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, perched on Falkenau Island in the Rhine River near Kaub, Germany, is a unique ship-shaped toll fortress built in 1326-1327 by King Ludwig the Bavarian to collect river duties from passing vessels, sparking disputes with local archbishops who saw it rival their own tolls.

Featuring a pentagonal keep pointed upstream as an ice-breaker, fortified walls added around 1340, and later expansions like those in 1607, it endured sieges—including a 39-day one in 1504—and occupations during the Thirty Years' War, while serving as a prison with a raft dungeon for unpaid tolls.

Gifted to the Elector Palatine in 1339, tolls ended in 1867, and since state ownership from 1946, this UNESCO-listed site has operated as a museum accessible by ferry, marking history like Blücher's 1814 army crossing.