Burg Rheinstein

Rheinstein Castle is a rebuilt hillside castle on the steep slope of the Binger Forest down to the Rhine Valley. It is located about one kilometer south of Trechtingshausen, 90 meters above the Rhine. The medieval castle was built between 1306 and 1320 as a residential tower complex with an integrated shield wall to secure the Mainz territory, along with the Mainz castles Klopp in Bingen, Ehrenfels in Rüdesheim, and Heimburg in Niederheimbach. Rheinstein Castle is the first rebuilt castle of the 19th century.
Prince Friedrich of Prussia had the ruins of the medieval castle expanded starting in 1825 and furnished with glass windows, furniture, weapons, and high-quality spolia. His great interest in the Middle Ages and enthusiasm for castles and ruins were consistently implemented here. Rheinstein marks the beginning of the "romantic reconstruction" of numerous Rhine castles that had previously been destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, the War of the Palatine Succession, and by Napoleonic rule. The reconstruction was carried out until 1829 with the involvement of Karl Friedrich Schinkel according to the plans of the Koblenz building inspector Claudius von Lassaulx by the architect Wilhelm Kuhn.

Today, the Romantic Castle Rheinstein features gastronomy (access to the Little Wine Prince is exclusively reserved for castle museum visitors), apartments, and the castle museum within the castle complex. The rooms of the Rheinstein Castle Museum provide an impression of noble living culture during the time of Prince Friedrich of Prussia. He had the castle ruins expanded as a summer residence starting in 1825. The special features of the rooms include the wall and ceiling paintings by the Düsseldorf painter Ludwig Poser. He painted nearly all living spaces with illusionistic tracery decorations. The historic tiles, doors, fittings, and paneling in the rooms testify to good craftsmanship and the prince's enthusiasm for the Middle Ages. Antique furniture from the 17th and 19th centuries, as well as armor and equipment from the 15th century, are further components of the furnishings. The museum is open daily from March 15 to November 1, as well as on Saturdays and Sundays during the winter months. The neo-Gothic chapel of Rheinstein Castle was built between 1839 and 1844 south of the castle, outside the medieval ring wall on a high substructure. Prince Friedrich of Prussia commissioned the construction because he wanted to be buried at his favorite place, Rheinstein Castle. The delicate chapel features a filigree gable facade and a rich tympanum, a decorated door arch field above the door lintel of the entrance. A cross flower adorns the roof above the gable of the facade, and water spouts in the shape of dragons are placed on the high, copper-covered roof rider. In the basement of the chapel, there is a crypt with the coffins of the prince, his wife Luise, and his son Georg. An external staircase leads down to a window that opens a view into the crypt. South of Trechtingshausen, a steep footpath leads from the banks of the Rhine to Rheinstein Castle.
The path is part of a landscape park that was created together with the romantic reconstruction of Rheinstein Castle in the 19th century. An artificial stream with waterfalls and resting benches accompanies the ascent to the castle. It passes by a large boulder that is held together and secured with a chain and steel cables.