Wassenberg Castle

Wassenberg Castle, locally known as Burg Wassenberg, lies the center of the town with the same name, southeast of the Dutch city of Roermond, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region in Germany.

The hill on which Wassenberg Castle stands was already used in Roman times because of its strategic position in the valley of the Rur river. At the end of the 9th century, when Vikings were raiding the area, there was a fortification on this hill where the villagers could find safety.

In the 11th century the Wassenberg castle and village were given, by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II, to a Gerardus von Antoing who from then on called himself Gerhard, Count of Wassenberg.

The present square keep on this hill was built around 1420. In 1543 Wassenberg Castle was visited by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

The gate and other buildings on the bailey, below the keep, mostly were built between 1739 and 1748.

At present the bailey houses a hotel and restaurant. The interior of the keep can not be visited although you can peek inside through the grates of the locked door. Not very spectacular this one but I would have liked to visit the keep's interior.

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