ヴォルメラートの洞窟・トップ4

The lower castle has completely disappeared. You can still see the beginning of the ring that connected the lower castle and the Ulmen city wall, a two-story outer wall of the palace, as well as a cistern and some foundation walls of other buildings. The old part of Ulmen Castle was built around 1074 AD and likely rests on the remains of a Roman settlement. In the Middle Ages, Ulmen Castle was further expanded and divided into the upper castle, whose remains of the walls still exist, and the lower castle, which extended to the banks of the maar river. Two knightly families lived in the castle, which is believed to have never been attacked or destroyed until 1673 due to its size. Only the Sun King's troops succeeded. It was rebuilt, but fell again in 1689 during the War of the Succession. However, Ulmen Castle was also rebuilt this time, with only the city wall being abandoned. With the invasion of Napoleon's soldiers, Ulmen also became French and later Prussian. The empty castle, whose last descendant died in 1801, was auctioned to a merchant from Cochem, who sold it as a quarry. When a devastating fire burned Ulmen to the ground in the 19th century, the residents of Ulmen rebuilt their houses with stones from the castle. That's why you can still see a coat of arms on some of the stables today. It wasn't until the early twentieth century that Ulmen Castle was declared a listed building and became the property of the municipality of Ulmen. The castle is always freely accessible.

A nice viewpoint. which invites you to take a short break

Climbing prohibited. Something could happen.

Climbing high is really forbidden! Besides, you wouldn't see much anyway. ;-)

The Entersburg, also known as Nantersburg, is a late medieval spur castle northeast of Hontheim in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate. The castle was probably built at the end of the 11th century by the "lords of Nantersburg" and destroyed in 1138 by the Archbishop of Trier, Albero von Montreuil. Findings made in 1978 and 1979 as part of an archaeological excavation by the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier provided evidence that Celts and Romans already had fortifications on the later castle grounds. Today the Steffenswarte, an observation tower built in 1895, reminds of the location of the castle. The Entersburg lay on a multi-tiered rocky ridge above the lower Üßbachtal in the Moseleifel. The maximum 262.2 m above sea level. NHN high plateau on which the castle stood is about 250 meters long and up to 130 meters wide. In the west, north and east, the castle was protected by steep slopes to the Üßbachtal, which was about 60 meters below. Access to the tower is currently (May 2022) not possible due to dilapidation. The castle site is freely accessible. The way up here via great, narrow paths is definitely worth it!

The upper castle was built on a slope above the Ulmen maar, while the lower castle (also called lower castle) was adjacent but below it. The exact time of construction is not known, but it is assumed that the upper castle was built around the year 1000. It was first mentioned in a document in 1074. The ruins of the upper castle are owned by the municipality of Ulmen and in 1913 were listed as a historical monument. It is freely accessible and there are regular events on its premises, including an annual medieval market on the last weekend in June. Source: Wikipedia

From here you have a wonderful view of the maar and the town of Ulmen. The Ulmener Maar is considered to be the youngest maar in the Eifel; it was only created after the eruption of the Laacher See volcano. The meromictic lake is up to 37 meters deep and is surrounded by an average 20 meter high wall made of tuff rock, which was formed from the ejecta of the former volcano. On the southern edge of the wall are the ruins of a knight's castle from the 11th century.

A tour around the Ulmener Maar and the castle is always worthwhile. 👍