Burg Rittersdorf

Burg Rittersdorf stands beside the Nims river in the village of Rittersdorf, within the Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm district of Rheinland-Pfalz. The water-filled moat still surrounds the nearly square complex, giving it the look of a medieval fortress. A round bergfried rises twenty-six metres on the east side, built after King Rudolf of Habsburg granted permission in 1290. The castle began in 1263 when Theoderich of Rittersdorf constructed it for the Abbey of Sankt Maximin in Trier. By the 15th century the lords of Enschringen held the fief and added a residential wing with two round towers from 1550. A wappentor dated 1575 marks the main entrance, and a smaller 13th-century keep stands on the north side. Today the restored complex houses a restaurant and a local history museum. A registry office room inside the castle is used for civil weddings. Visitors walk the moat path, view the high tower, and step into the vaulted rooms that once guarded the road from Trier to Bitburg, Prüm and Cologne.