Burg Castle (Solingen)

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Burg Castle (Schloss Burg) is in Burg an der Wupper, Solingen, Germany. It is the largest rebuilt castle in North Rhine-Westphalia and a popular tourist spot.

History in brief
- Built after 1133 by Count Adolf III of Berg on a hill above the Wupper river. The old Berg castle at Odenthal was abandoned. The new castle was first called Neuenberge (New Mountain).
- In the 15th century, it was rebuilt as a hunting castle and got the name Schloss Burg.
- Adolf VI of Berg died in the Fifth Crusade during the siege of Damietta in 1218. Since he had no sons, his younger brother Engelbert I, a powerful archbishop of Cologne, won the inheritance after a dispute with Duke Waleran III of Limburg. Engelbert II of Berg built the castle’s great hall between 1218 and 1225.
- Engelbert was very influential but was murdered in 1225. The War of the Limburg succession followed.
- In 1288 Adolf VIII of Berg helped win the Battle of Worringen. After the battle, the opposing archbishop of Cologne, Siegfried II of Westerburg, was kept prisoner in Burg Castle. Adolf VIII used this to strengthen Düsseldorf, helping it become a city and to control Rhine traffic.
- In the 13th and 14th centuries Schloss Burg was the main home of the Berg counts. In 1380 Düsseldorf became the duchy’s capital, and Schloss Burg was used as a hunting and ceremonial castle.
- In 1496 Maria of Jülich-Berg was engaged to John of Cleves-Mark (later Duke John III of Cleves). Their marriage helped unite the duchies of Jülich, Cleves, and Berg. Anne of Cleves, the second daughter, would later marry Henry VIII of England.
- In 1632 Swedish troops besieged Burg Castle. After the Thirty Years’ War, in 1648, Imperial troops damaged the fortifications.

Modern times and restoration
- In 1700 the main building was partly rebuilt and used for administration. In 1849 the castle was sold to be scrapped and fell into ruin.
- Architect Gerhard August Fischer proposed rebuilding Schloss Burg in 1882, using old documents. From 1890 a reconstruction committee led the work, with help from painters from the Düsseldorf Academy. The Battery Tower was added in 1914.
- A large fire in 1920 destroyed much of the castle, but visitors helped fund its restoration. Reconstruction took place from 1922 to 1925. In 1929 the Engelbert monument by Paul Wynand was unveiled.

Today
- The castle’s appearance is not exactly how it looked in 1715, but Schloss Burg is a major public attraction. It houses the Museum of the Bergisches Land.
- The castle church is a popular wedding venue. There are memorials for deportations and for the German Eastern Provinces, with bells from Königsberg and Breslau.
- The grounds include shops for souvenirs, hiking trails to forests and to Unterburg, a village at the foot of the hill. A chairlift connects Unterburg and the castle.
- Burg used to be an independent town until 1975, when it joined Solingen. In German, Schloss Burg literally means “palace castle.”