Baldenau Castle is the ruin of a moated castle in the Hunsrück region between the villages of Hundheim and Hinzerath, both districts of the municipality of Morbach in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district of Rhineland-Palatinate, just south of the Hunsrück High Road B 327. The Baldenau Castle ruins are one of the few moated castles in the Hunsrück region located in a high valley. The moat of the ruins, located at an elevation of 465 meters on the northern edge of the Idarwald Forest, is fed by the upper reaches of the Dhron River. The rarely visited ruins, idyllically situated in a marshland, are freely accessible at all times.
The Baldenau Castle also includes the Stumpfer Turm (Blunt Tower), built above Hinzerath on the former Roman road. Due to its location on the ridge, approaching dangers could be detected early and reported to the castle. It was built from 1315 onwards by Archbishop Baldwin of Trier to secure the Electorate of Trier's rule. The castle was primarily directed against the Counts of Sponheim. The counts were rival territorial lords of Trier in this area. In 1332, Baldwin received town rights for a settlement near Baldenau from Emperor Louis in a collective privilege; however, such a settlement never actually came to be founded. The castle gave its name to the Electorate of Trier's Amt Baldenau, which included fifteen surrounding villages. Two bailiffs are recorded in the 15th century: Rulmann von Partenheim and Clas von Nattenheim. Also in the 15th century, the castle and the Amt were pledged to noblemen, an indication of the castle's minor importance during this period.
After sustaining repeated damage during the Thirty Years' War, it was repaired as early as 1649, but was finally permanently destroyed in 1689 during the War of the Palatinate Succession by French troops under Louis XIV. The ruins were secured from 1982 onwards.
In 1981 and 1982, the ruins served as the backdrop for the first part of Edgar Reitz's Heimat trilogy.
Source: Wikipedia
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