Katz Castle

Katz Castle is a castle above the German town of St. Goarshausen in Rhineland-Palatinate. This magnificent castle stands on a ledge looking downstream from the riverside at St. Goar. It was first built around 1371 by Count William II of Katzenelnbogen. The castle was bombarded in 1806 by Napoleon and rebuilt in the late 19th century, in 1896–98. It is now privately owned, and not open for visitors.DescriptionEtymologyThough commonly known as Katz, this is actually a contraction of Neukatzenelnbogen after the original castle of Katzenelnbogen . The name roughly translates into English as Cat's Elbow Castle, and so is popularly linked with that of the nearby Maus Castle.ArchitectureThe castle is of compact layout, consisting mainly of a great hall and a massive bergfried, originally 40 metres tall, on the uphill side.In 1435, the Counts of Katzenelnbogen were the first to plant Riesling grapes in their vineyard.Katz Castle and its surroundings are the place of action for the Belgian comic book L'Orgue du Diable in the Yoko Tsuno series by Roger Leloup.Gallery