Reichenstein is one of the oldest castles on the Middle Rhine and was probably built in the early 11th century at the behest of the Kornelimünster arch abbey near Aachen. In 1214, the abbots chose the von Bolanden family as bailiffs. This would prove to be a fateful decision, as the von Bolandens turned out to be robber barons of the worst kind.

Because of improper customs practices and robberies carried out by the castle’s inhabitants, the castle was destroyed by the Rhenish Town League in 1253 and then again by King Rudof von Habsburg in 1282 to put an end to the mischief.

The castle was rebuilt after the area was ceded by the emperor to the archbishop of Mainz in 1344. The double ring wall of the main castle structure surrounds a rectangular residential tower and an inner courtyard. In the 15th century, two round towers were added on the Rhine side. A gated construction built to the north secured the access to the castle. The massive sentry wall, which is up to eight metres thick and 16 metres high, still stands today along with its partially reconstructed corner towers.

In the 16th century, Reichenstein gradually became dilapidated and it was destroyed in 1689 during the Palatine War of Succession. In 1834, General Franz Wilhelm von Barfuss acquired the ruin and had the gate building converted into a residence. From 1899 through 1902, the castle ruins were turned into a large residential castle for Nicolaus von Kirsch-Puricelli, the owner of the Rheinböll Hütte, in the English New Gothic style, whereby the structure and design of the castle were radically changed.

Today’s Reichenstein Castle is a typical example for an expanded castle inspired by Rhine Romanticism. The residential rooms on the upper floor house antique furniture as well as an extensive collection of historic weapons and armour. The chapel, in the New Gothic style, contains an altarpiece from 1556 as well as other works of art dating back to the 15th through 18th centuries.