Burg Landeck

The ruins of Burg Landeck stand on a rocky spur 470 metres above sea level, north-east of Oberlengsfeld and within the Hilmes district. The spur castle was built in 1234 by Hersfeld Abbey as an administrative fortress. By the 14th century the site often changed hands through pledges, finally to Mainz until 1454 when it was redeemed. During the German Peasants’ War in 1525 unrest spread through Hersfeld and the surrounding area. Landgrave Philipp of Hesse helped the beleaguered abbot crush the rising and took large parts of the abbey’s lands, including the Landeck estate, to cover costs. The castle was probably destroyed at this time. In 1982 restorers repaired and reinforced the remaining ring-wall sections. Visitors today see the restored ring-wall fragments rising above the hilltop. Inside the enclosure lie grassy slopes and scattered masonry. The view stretches across the Rhön hills and down to the valleys below. August Spies, later a journalist, was born here in 1855 according to his handwritten autobiography.