Uerzell Castle

Wasserburg Uerzell stands in the northern edge of Uerzell, a district of Steinau an der Straße in Hesse’s Main-Kinzig district. The site once formed a small medieval water castle built by the noble Mörle family in the 14th century. It occupied a marshy site beside the Ürzeller Wasser stream, part of the upper Steinebach valley.

The castle’s history is marked by sieges and feuds. In 1450 troops of Fulda’s abbot destroyed part of the stronghold after the Mörles turned to robbery. A second attack in 1522 followed imperial orders against allied knights. By the 16th century the complex had grown into a scattered water palace with several adjoining buildings. After Fulda bought the whole property in 1699 an estate manager took charge until the ruins passed into private hands in 1812.

Today only fragments remain. A thick-walled residential tower survives inside a modern house, its medieval masonry still visible. The old moats have been filled but traces can be seen in the rear grounds. A low two-storey section of the main building dates from 1870, when the original three floors were lowered. Near the entrance side a small park and stables once stood, yet nothing of these outworks survives except the embedded tower. The remnants belong to a local family and offer a quiet glimpse of a once-feared stronghold.