Sayn Castle

Sayn was a small German county of the Holy Roman Empire which, during the Middle Ages, existed within what is today Rheinland-Pfalz. There have been two Counties of Sayn. The first emerged in 1139 and became closely associated with the County of Sponheim early in its existence. Count Henry II was notable for being accused of satanic orgies by the Church's German Grand Inquisitor, Conrad von Marburg, in 1233. Henry was acquitted by an assembly of bishops in Mainz, but Conrad refused to accept the verdict and left Mainz. It is unknown whether it was Henry's Knights who killed Conrad on his return to Thuringia, but investigation was foregone due to the cruelty of Conrad, despite Pope Gregory IX ordering his murderers to be punished. With the death of Henry in 1246, the County passed to the Counts of Sponheim-Eberstein and thence to Sponheim-Sayn in 1261. The second County of Sayn emerged as a partition of Sponheim-Sayn in 1283 (the other partition being Sayn-Homburg). It was notable for its numerous co-reigns, and it endured until 1608 when it was inherited by the Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. A lack of clear heirs of William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn led to the temporary annexation of the comital territories by the Archbishop of Cologne until the succession was decided. In 1648 following the Thirty Years' War, the County was divided between Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen and Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg.

The Brexbach (historically: Brachysa) is a river, just under 22 kilometres (14 mi) long, and an orographically left-hand tributary of the Saynbach in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Bendorf (German pronunciation: [ˈbɛndɔʁf] (listen)) is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 7 kilometres (4 miles) north of Koblenz.

Engers is a district of Neuwied on the right banks of the river Rhine in Germany located next to Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate. Engers has 5,367 inhabitants. It is highwater-endangered by its direct contact with the river Rhine.

The Neuwied Zoo (German: Zoo Neuwied) is a zoo located on the edge of the town of Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate. It borders the Rhine-Westerwald Nature Park. In 2007, the zoo had over 270,000 visitors.

The Sayn (frequently also called the Saynbach) is a small river, just under 43 kilometres (27 mi) long, in the south of the Westerwald hill region of Germany. It rises near Himburg in the Upper Westerwald and empties into the River Rhine in Bendorf (between the towns of Koblenz and Neuwied).

Sankt Sebastian is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.

Weitersburg is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.

Engers station is a through station and a former railway junction in the district of Engers in the town of Neuwied in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is on the East Rhine Railway (German: Rechte Rheinstrecke, Right Rhine line) and was formerly also the beginning of a line to Au (Sieg) and had a large freight yard.

Isenburg is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The castle was built by the Counts of Isenburg around 1100 if not prior. Occupied by several branches of the Isenburg family (as a Ganerbenburg), it was inhabited into the early 17th century. Shortly after being abandoned, it became a ruin. After the branch of Lower Isenburg had extinguished in 1664 with count Ernst of Isenburg-Grenzau, the county was partitioned between the counts of Walderdorff and the counts of Wied-Neuwied. The present owner of the castle is Maximilian, 9th Prince of Wied, son of Carl, 8th Prince of Wied and Princess Isabelle of Isenburg.

Kaltenengers is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.

The Moselle Valley (German: Moseltal) is a region in north-eastern France, south-western Germany, and eastern Luxembourg, centred on the river valley formed by the river Moselle. The Moselle runs through, and along the borders of, the three countries, and drains a fourth, Belgium. The Moselle has been promoted as a quality white wine-producing region since the nineteenth century and "Moselle wine" is produced in three countries; it is the heart of the Luxembourg wine industry, and is also of the German Mosel region, and there are some vineyards in France. The Moselle has developed a strong tourism industry around its reputation as a rural idyll. The tourism sector is most prominent in the Luxembourgian and German parts of the Moselle. Luxembourg's part of the valley roughly corresponds with the central and eastern parts of the cantons of Grevenmacher and Remich. Almost all of the lowest-lying communes in Luxembourg lie along the Moselle. There are no large towns in Luxembourg's part of the Moselle valley, but the main settlements are Grevenmacher, Mondorf-les-Bains, Remich, and Wasserbillig, all of which have populations in excess of 2,000 people.