Dillenburg Castle
Last updated
via Wikipedia: Dillenburg Castle · see source
Perched on a hill 958 feet above the Dill river, Dillenburg Castle in Hesse-Nassau was founded around 1240 by Count Henry the Rich of Nassau. It is best known as the birthplace of Prince William of Orange in 1533.
After suffering cannon damage during the Seven Years' War, the main building was deconstructed in 1760. Today, only the ruins of the 17th-century fortifications remain on the hill; nothing is left of the original wooden fortifications. Below, the Evangelical church (formerly Johanniskirche from 1491) holds the vault of the princes of Nassau-Dillenburg.
Quick Facts
- Location
- Dillenburg, Hesse-Nassau, on a hill above the Dill river
- Elevation
- 958 feet
- Founded
- about 1240
- Founder
- Count Henry the Rich of Nassau
- Birthplace of
- Prince William of Orange (1533)
- Main building deconstructed
- 1760
- Notable structure
- Wilhelmsturm (lookout tower, 1872)
Facts from the source article.
Background
Count Henry the Rich of Nassau founded Dillenburg Castle around 1240, but the original fortifications were mostly wood and have completely vanished. The castle gained lasting fame as the 1533 birthplace of Prince William of Orange, who later plotted his rebellion against the Spanish Netherlands from this very spot. During the Seven Years' War, cannon fire damaged the main building, leading to its deconstruction in 1760.
The hill still holds the ruins of the 17th-century fortifications of the old schloss. In 1872, Princess Marianne, daughter of King Willem I, helped finance the Wilhelmsturm lookout tower, which now houses the Oranje-Nassaumuseum. The tower is a landmark along the Orange Route and Rothaarsteig.
More in Castles in Hesse
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Dillenburg Castle (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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