Upper Middle Rhine Valley

Just to see all the castles along the Rhine Valley it would be worth it to take a boat down the river

Middle Rhine Valley

 This postcard was sent by Michèle

The 65km-stretch of the Middle Rhine Valley, with its castles, historic towns and vineyards, graphically illustrates the long history of human involvement with a dramatic and varied natural landscape. 

The landscape is punctuated by some 40 hill top castles and fortresses erected over a period of around 1,000 years. Abandonment and later the wars of the 17th century left most as picturesque ruins. The later 18th century saw the growth of sensibility towards the beauties of nature, and the often dramatic physical scenery of the Middle Rhine Valley, coupled with the many ruined castles on prominent hilltops, made it appeal strongly to the Romantic movement, which in turn influenced the form of much 19th century restoration and reconstruction. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1066/

Marksburg

This postcard was sent by Miguel

The Marksburg is a castle above the town of Braubach in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is one of the principal sites of the Rhine Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fortress was used for protection rather than as a residence for royal families. It has a striking example of a bergfried designed as a butter-churn tower. Of the 40 hill castles between Bingen am Rhein and Koblenz the Marksburg was the only one which was never destroyed. - in: wikipedia

Gutenfels Castle

This postcard was sent by Svenja

Gutenfels Castle (German: Burg Gutenfels), also known as Caub Castle, is a castle 110m above the town of Kaub in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Gutenfels Castle was built in 1220. It was used with the toll castle, Pfalzgrafenstein Castle in the middle of the Rhein and the fortified town of Kaub on the farthest side to provide an impenetrable anti-toll zone for the Holy Roman Emperor until Prussia purchased the area (1866) and ended this toll in 1867.

The castle is part of the Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site added in 2002. The castle transitioned from a hotel into private ownership in 2006. - in: wikipedia

Stolzenfels Castle

This postcard was sent by Andrea

Stolzenfels Castle (German: Schloss Stolzenfels) is a former medieval fortress castle ("Burg") turned into a palace, near Koblenz on the left bank of the Rhine, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Stolzenfels was a ruined 13th-century castle, gifted to the Prussian Crownprince, Frederick William in 1823. He had it rebuilt as a 19th-century palace in Gothic Revival style. Today, it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Upper Middle Rhine Valley. - in: wikipedia