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Kaiserpfalz und Burgmannenhaus Gelnhausen
Kaiserpfalz und Burgmannenhaus Gelnhausen
63571 Gelnhausen
Around 1170, Staufer Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa founded the imperial palace on an island in the Kinzig River in Gelnhausen. As early as 1180, the first of several imperial councils was held here. Emperor Charles IV sold the castle in 1349, about a century later the Count of Hanau and Count Palatine Ludwig III acquired the complex, which was then already in a state of decay. It suffered further destruction during the Thirty Years' War. It was not until the end of the 19th century that the buildings were secured against further decay and demolition. Today, the remains of the castle gate with the gate tower and the palace rise on the mighty, irregularly laid out ring of ashlar masonry. The imperial palace is an impressive example of a Romanesque moated castle and, despite its ruinous condition, is considered the best preserved and artistically most valuable of all Staufer palaces.