Sooneck Castle

Niederheimbach, Germany, Germany

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Sooneck Castle is a striking medieval fortress perched high above the Rhine River near Niederheimbach in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate, first documented around 1271 when it was sold by Kornelimünster Abbey to the Archbishop of Mainz.

Besieged and destroyed in 1282 by King Rudolf I for its robber barons' toll abuses, it was rebuilt in 1346 by Johann Marschall of Waldeck after a construction ban lifted, becoming a multi-family Ganerbenburg that changed hands amid noble feuds until ruin by the 18th century.

In the 19th century, Prussian Crown Prince Frederick William IV restored it as a romantic hunting lodge blending medieval remnants like corner turrets with neo-Romanesque additions, though rarely used due to revolutions and family issues, now part of the UNESCO Upper Middle Rhine Valley.