Castles in Germany
33 real castles, fortresses and walled cities in Germany — each mapped, dated and ready to explore.
Meersburg Castle
The oldest inhabited castle in Germany, above Lake Constance
Nuremberg Castle
Great imperial castle where the Holy Roman Emperors held court
Reichsburg Cochem
A towered hill castle above the Moselle, rebuilt as a romantic dream
Veste Coburg
A vast hilltop fortress where Martin Luther once took refuge
Wartburg
Hilltop castle where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German
Marburg Castle
Hilltop seat of the landgraves of Hesse, scene of a famous religious debate
Marksburg Castle
The only Rhine hilltop castle never destroyed, rising in stacked terraces
Trifels Castle
Imperial fortress that guarded the crown jewels and held Richard the Lionheart
Wernigerode Castle
A romantic turreted castle crowning a town at the edge of the Harz mountains
Eltz Castle
A perfectly preserved medieval castle hidden in a forested valley, never destroyed
Rothenburg ob der Tauber Walls
Germany's best-preserved medieval town walls, with a covered wall-walk and towers
Königstein Fortress
A vast clifftop fortress above the Elbe, considered impregnable
Stolzenfels Castle
A Prussian king's romantic Gothic-Revival castle above the Rhine
Rheinfels Castle
The mightiest ruined fortress on the Rhine, above St. Goar
Frankenstein Castle
Hilltop ruin near Darmstadt wrapped in legend and a famous name
Burghausen Castle
The longest castle complex in the world, stretching over a kilometre along a ridge
Heidelberg Castle
Romantic red-sandstone ruin above the old city of Heidelberg
Pfalzgrafenstein Castle
Germany's 'stone ship' toll castle set on a Rhine island
Celle Castle
Residence of the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, with the oldest baroque theatre in Germany
Albrechtsburg
One of Germany's first true castle-palaces, later home of the first European porcelain
Moritzburg Castle
A baroque hunting palace set on an island in its own lake
Glücksburg Castle
A white Renaissance water castle, cradle of European royal dynasties
Charlottenburg Palace
The largest royal palace in Berlin, seat of the Prussian kings
Würzburg Residence
A baroque palace with the world's largest ceiling fresco, by Tiepolo
Sanssouci
Frederick the Great's rococo summer palace, his 'place without cares'
Hohenschwangau Castle
The yellow childhood castle of King Ludwig II, facing Neuschwanstein
Lichtenstein Castle
A storybook 'fairytale castle of Württemberg' perched on a cliff
Schwerin Castle
A fairytale palace on an island lake, home of the state parliament
Hohenzollern Castle
Dramatic hilltop seat of the Hohenzollerns, who became kings of Prussia and German emperors
Neuschwanstein Castle
The fairytale castle of 'Mad King' Ludwig II that inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle
Linderhof Palace
The small, jewel-like palace of Ludwig II, with a famous grotto and gardens
Herrenchiemsee
Ludwig II's island palace, built as a German answer to Versailles
Schloss Drachenburg
A fantastical 19th-century palace on the Dragon's Rock above the Rhine