The Sohrbach flows around the castle rock. Historians are not yet in agreement as to whether the documentary mention of a Landegerus de Tila in 1090 refers to a nobleman from the castle.
A document from the Springiersbach monastery from 1107, in which an Adalbert de Dille is named as a witness, is considered certain. The castle came into the family property of the Counts of Sponheim via Adelheid von Mörsberg. It probably initially served to secure and expand the Sponheim territory, which stretched from the Moselle across the Hunsrück to the Nahe region. Despite several divisions of the county, Dill Castle always remained the undivided property of all later common lords of the County of Sponheim.
Since the 14th century, the complex lost its strategic importance and was converted into a residence. The castle was intended as the widow's residence of Beatrix of Baden (1492-1535), the first wife of Duke Johann I of Palatinate Simmern (1492-1557). After the last Sponheimer, Johann V, died in 1437, the inheritance of the county fell essentially to the Dukes of Simmern and the Margraves of Baden. Structural remains, stove and floor tiles as well as wood remnants suggest that the residential tower that still exists today dates from the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century. The castle was destroyed by the French in 1698 and has been a ruin ever since. Stones and masonry were used to build houses and farm buildings in the village, especially in the 19th century. Dill itself was the seat of a Sponheim office until the end of the 18th century, and the town was granted town rights in 1427.
Where the castle chapel once stood, the Protestant church, built in 1701, now stands. The baroque building is a treasure of art history because of the paintings by Johann Georg Engisch (1668-1741) in the gallery paneling and in the choir.
The historically grown town center of Dill, which nestles around the castle hill, impresses with its lovingly restored half-timbered houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. The peculiar oval windows between the upper floor and the eaves of some of the half-timbered houses are particularly striking. In technical terms, this architectural feature is called a "Trempelwand".
Source: VGV Kirchberg
The castle ruins, originally privately owned, were recently acquired by the municipality of Dill and are to be made accessible to the public.