Burg Haneck

Burg Haneck stands as a ruined hilltop fortress near Geroldstein, within the municipality of Oestrich-Winkel in the Rheingau-Taunus district of Hesse. It rises on a spur called the Hanenberg, 330 metres above sea level, above the middle Wisper valley. Two deep neck ditches separate it from the hilltop, making it a classic summit castle. A short fifteen-minute walk from Geroldstein village leads to its remains. Nearby, lower down the slope, lies the similarly named Burg Geroldstein, once confused with Haneck until research by Schweinsberg in 1884 and later map corrections in 2010 clarified their identities. Built in 1386 by Philipp von Gerhartstein on Mainz territory, the castle was commissioned by the Archbishopric of Mainz to guard against the expansion of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen. The Geroldstein family died out in 1569 with Hedderich, after which the fortress was abandoned and gradually decayed. It passed to Mainz and was administered by the Rheingau until 1804. Later attempts by Adam von Cramberg between 1599 and 1600 to claim the ruins came to nothing. Today the ruin belongs to a private owner. Visitors find an octagonal keep with a two-and-a-half-metre-thick shield wall and an internal spiral stair. Attached is the great hall area, marked by a pointed-arched doorway, slit windows, a loophole and a rounded archway. In the courtyard a shaft cut into the rock forms a well twenty-five metres deep. The southern approach is barred by a deep neck ditch, reinforcing the castle’s defensive height.