Mellnau

Drive north from Marburg and one can see the castle at Mellnau standing tall on its hill above the town of the same name.

The castle was started in the mid-1200s, with the keep completed in 1329-31. In 1348, the castle was pawned to the von Hatzfeld family.

By the 1400s the castle began to fall into decay; in 1464 the property was pawned by Mainz to Hesse. During the Schmalkaldic War the castle was destroyed in 1547, and by 1583 was formally abandoned. The ruined keep was restored in 1969-70 by the town of Mellnau.

The keep is 9.5 meters in diameter with walls 3 meters thick. The ring wall is typically around 2.5 meters thick.

Left, an example of the "great" signage in Germany... a homemade wooden plank tells you which way to the castle. Of course, the street called "Burgstrasse" can help in this regard. The other sign literally says "Old Hole" but really means "Old Cave."

Below, a view of the new entrance into the inner ward. The outer ward is by and large gone, with only small pieces of wall remaining. The entrance shown is not the original one.

The new entrance to the inner ward, as seen from within the castle grounds. Below ground in this area are two chambers which to my knowledge have been explored but there are no entrances to them.

This is the authentic entrance to the inner ward as seen from within the castle grounds.

The original bergfried, or keep, was destroyed and in ruins until the late 1960s when the town of Mellnau had it rebuilt. Access to the keep is restricted.

Below is an example of some of the older buildings within Mellnau that have decayed over the years. The site is probably connected to the town defenses.

An overview of the town of Mellnau as seen from the walls of the castle.

Mellnau is not an elaborate site but is still worth the trip to see.