Burg Hunolstein

Burg Hunolstein rises above the village of Hunolstein in the Hunsrück hills at 395 metres. Built in the 12th century, it once belonged to the Vogts of Hunolstein and, according to legend, to the Nibelung Hunold. In 1522 Franz von Sickingen captured the castle, and the Thirty Years War left it so ruined that by 1637 it was abandoned. Today only a round corner tower and parts of the enclosing wall remain. The ruins stretch about forty metres long and are ringed by a wall up to 1.30 metres thick, still standing eight metres high on the south side. On a quartzite rock once stood the keep, leaving a square remnant three metres tall. From this point the view opens westwards down the Dhron valley or northwards to the Haardtkopf at 658 metres near Gornhausen. Visitors walk among the weathered stones of the old stronghold and climb to the keep’s foundations. The surviving tower and stretches of curtain wall show how the castle once commanded the surrounding countryside. The quiet hilltop site offers a clear prospect over the Hunsrück’s rolling ridges and the Dhron’s winding course below.