place

Godesburg

Castles in North Rhine-Westphalia
Godesburg 2 db
Godesburg 2 db

The Godesburg is a castle in Bad Godesberg, a formerly independent part of Bonn, Germany. Built in the early 13th century on the Godesberg, a hill of volcanic origin, it was largely destroyed following a siege in 1583 at the start of the Cologne War. In 1891, the German emperor Wilhelm II donated the castle's ruin to the city of Bad Godesberg. In 1959, the ruin was rebuilt according to plans by Gottfried Böhm, to house a hotel and restaurant. Today, the restaurant is still in operation, but the hotel tract has been divided into apartments.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Godesburg (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Godesburg
Auf dem Godesberg, Bonn Bad Godesberg

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Website External links Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: GodesburgContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.685116666667 ° E 7.150675 °
placeShow on map

Address

Godesburg

Auf dem Godesberg
53177 Bonn, Bad Godesberg
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
mapOpen on Google Maps

Website
godesburg-bonn.de

linkVisit website

linkWikiData (Q895670)
linkOpenStreetMap (115092313)

Godesburg 2 db
Godesburg 2 db
Share experience

Nearby Places

Siege of Godesberg
Siege of Godesberg

The siege of Godesberg, 18 November – 17 December 1583, was the first major siege of the Cologne War (1583–1589). Seeking to wrest control of an important fortification, Bavarian and mercenary soldiers surrounded the Godesberg, and the village then of the same name, now Bad Godesberg, located at its foot. On top of the mountain sat a formidable fortress, similarly named Godesburg, built in the early 13th century during a contest over the election of two competing archbishops. Towering over the Rhine valley, the Godesburg's strategic position commanded the roads leading to and from Bonn, the Elector of Cologne's capital city, and Cologne, the region's economic powerhouse. Over time, the Electors strengthened its walls and heightened its towers. They added a small residence in the 14th century and the donjon (also called a Bergfried or keep) developed as a stronghold of the Electoral archives and valuables. By the mid-16th century, the Godesburg was considered nearly impregnable and had become a symbol of the dual power of the Prince-electors and Archbishops of Cologne, one of the wealthiest ecclesiastical territories in the Holy Roman Empire. The Cologne War, a feud between the Protestant Elector, Gebhard, Truchsess of Waldburg, and the Catholic Elector, Ernest of Bavaria, was yet another schismatic episode in the Electoral and archdiocesan history. The Godesburg came under attack from Bavarian forces in November 1583. It resisted a lengthy cannonade by the attacking army; finally, sappers tunneled into the basalt core of the mountain, placed 680 kilograms (1,500 lb) of powder into the tunnel and blew up a significant part of the fortifications. The explosion killed many of the defending troops, but the resulting rubble impeded the attackers' progress, and the remaining defenders continued to offer staunch resistance. Only when some of the attackers entered the castle's inner courtyard through the latrine system were the Bavarians able to overcome their opponents. The Godesburg's commander and some surviving defenders took refuge in the keep; using prisoners held in the dungeons as hostages, the commander negotiated safe passage for himself, his wife and his lieutenant. The others who were left in the keep—men, women and children—were killed. Nearby Bonn fell to the Bavarians the following month.