Zülpich Castle

Zülpich, Germany, Germany

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Zülpich Castle, also known as the Electoral Cologne Sovereign Castle, is the iconic landmark of Zülpich in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with roots tracing back to a Roman castrum and rebuilt in the late 14th century as a fortress for the archbishops of Cologne against the County of Jülich.

This austere quadrangular brick structure features thick walls up to three meters, corner round towers once four stories high with battlements and residential chambers, and a northern square tower from an earlier castle, originally moated and integrated into the town's defenses.

Destroyed by French troops in the late 17th century, it later housed a distillery until the 1980s, suffered World War II damage, and was partially rebuilt in the 1950s to serve today as a tourist office and history society base.