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"Die imposante Burg beherrscht das Bild von Blankenheim. Funde deuten darauf hin, dass hier zuvor ein römisches Kastell stand.
Gerhard I. errichtete die Burg 1115 oberhalb der Ahrquelle. Graf Gerhard VIII. ließ die Burg im 15. Jahrhundert abreißen und neu aufbauen. Als sie von der Blankenheimer Herrschaft 1468 durch Vererbung an die Grafen von Manderscheid fiel, wurde sie mehrfach umgestaltet: Die mittelalterliche Ritterburg verwandelte sich in ein barockes Schloss. Die Burg als Wehranlage hatte an Bedeutung verloren.
Die Manderscheider wollten durch repräsentative Anlagen ihre Gäste beeindrucken: Um 1730 errichteten sie im Vorgelände des Burggrabens einen barocken Garten mit einer Orangerie.
Heute dient der Burgkomplex als Jugendherberge und kann auf Anfrage besichtigt werden. Die Burg Blankenheim liegt direkt an der Burgen-Route."
EN (Translation):
"The imposing castle dominates the picture of Blankenheim. Findings indicate that a Roman fort had previously stood here.
Gerhard I built the castle above the source of the Ahr in 1115. Count Gerhard VIII had the castle demolished and rebuilt in the 15th century. When it was inherited by the Counts of Manderscheid during the Blankenheim reign of 1468, it was redesigned several times: The medieval knight's castle was transformed into a baroque castle. The castle had lost its importance as a fortification.
Around 1730 they built a baroque garden with an orangery in front of the moat.
Today the castle complex serves as a youth hostel and can be visited on request. Blankenheim Castle is located directly on the Castle Route."
Wikipedia contributors. (2017, November 23). Blankenheim Castle. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:35, June 5, 2018, from (
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"Blankenheim Castle (German: Burg Blankenheim) is a schloss above the village of Blankenheim in the Eifel mountains of Germany. It was built as a hill castle around 1115 by Gerhard I and became the family seat of the House of Blankenheim. The lords of Blankenheim were elevated to the countship in 1380. The counts were related to the counts of Manderscheid and, from 1469, were named Manderscheid-Blankenheim. With the extinction of the lines of Manderscheid-Gerolstein and Manderscheid-Kail (1742) the County of Manderscheid became the largest independent territorial lordship in the Eifel.
Site
The site has been remodelled on numerous occasions. In the course of time the mediaeval defensive site was converted into a Baroque schloss with a Baroque garden and an orangery. Its end came in September 1794, when French troops marched into Blankenheim. Countess Augusta of Manderscheid-Blankenheim and her family fled to Bohemia.
For a long time the castle remained uninhabited until, in 1894, Prussia started work on safety measures. In 1926 it was taken over by the German Gymnastics Club and, in 1936, the site was acquired by the German Youth Hostel Association. They converted the castle into a youth hostel.
In 1996 the wildlife park tunnel was rediscovered. It is a noteworthy water supply gallery. Although the River Ahr flows nearby, the castle depended on rainwater. As a result, Count Dietrich III of Manderscheid-Blankenheim had a water supply tunnel excavated in 1469. The water from the spring In der Rhenn was thereby diverted from about a kilometre away and led to the castle."