Counts Of Blankenheim
Site
The site has been remodelled on numerous occasions. In the course of time the mediaeval defensive site was converted into a Baroque schloss with a Baroque garden and an orangery. Its end came in September 1794, when French troops marched into Blankenheim. Countess Augusta of Manderscheid-Blankenheim and her family fled to Bohemia.
For a long time the castle remained uninhabited until, in 1894, Prussia started work on safety measures. In 1926 it was taken over by the German Gymnastics Club and, in 1936, the site was acquired by the German Youth Hostel Association. They converted the castle into a youth hostel.
In 1996 the wildlife park tunnel was rediscovered. It is a noteworthy water supply gallery. Although the River Ahr flows nearby, the castle depended on rainwater. As a result, Count Dietrich III of Manderscheid-Blankenheim had a water supply tunnel excavated in 1469. The water from the spring In der Rhenn was thereby diverted from about a kilometre away and led to the castle.
Personalities
The lawyer and Catholic politician, Moritz Lieber, was born on 1 October 1790 at Blankenheim Castle.
External links
- Entry on Blankenheim in EBIDAT, the databank of the European Castles Institute
- "Blankenheim". Alle Burgen (in German).
- Blankenheim. Porträt. DJH-Service-Center Rheinland (Jugendherberge)
- Burg Blankenheim. www.eifel.de
- Der Tiergartentunnel von Blankenheim. Die Burg.
- Tiergartentunnel in Blankenheim. Archived 2013-10-01 at the Wayback Machine Stilles Wasser in der Tiefe. Nordrhein-Westfalen-Stiftung Naturschutz, Heimat- und Kulturpflege