Schloss von der Leyen

Kobern-Gondorf, Germany, Germany

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Schloss von der Leyen, also known as the Oberburg or Schloss Gondorf, is the Moselle River's only surviving water castle, located in Kobern-Gondorf's Gondorf district in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate.

First documented in 1272 but likely originating in the 12th century as a medieval fortress, it became the ancestral seat of the powerful von der Leyen family from 1560, who transformed it into a Renaissance palace amid their vast vineyard empire—"Ley" meaning rock—and produced several Trier and Mainz archbishops.

Divided by 19th-century railway tracks and the B416 road yet retaining Gothic and Renaissance features like a three-story outer bailey, 1527 gateway, Palas hall, and neo-Gothic expansions, it now houses a wine museum and regional archives.