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     Drachenfels and Wolkenburg                                                                                                                                                      

Drachenfels (321 m)

The Drachenfels ("Dragons' Rock"), surely the best known of the Seven Mountains that inspired poets such as Lord Byron and Heinrich Heine, welcomes you when you make a boat tour on River Rhine.  You can visit the ruin of the medieval castle on top of the Drachenfels. If you don't want to walk or you have only little time, the cog train takes to you to the top. With so much Rhine romanticism you may forget that the Drachenfels has gone through an eventful history.

Already the Romans had gained trachyte from quarries on the Drachenfels: large quantities of stones were extracted from the Roman quarries at the Drachenfels mountain and transported northwards, debarking from the Roman harbor in Königswinter. 

In the Middle Ages the quarries continued, for example large parts of the cathedral in Cologne were built with stones from the Seven Mountains. Politically, the Drachenfels belonged to the archbishopric of Cologne. But their supremacy in the region was more and more disputed by the Counts of Sayn from the south and the Counts of Berg from the north. To fortify his position, in 1140 the Archbishop gave order to build a castle on the Drachenfels. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Archbishops of Cologne were important political actors, and the Drachenfels was involved into various conflicts, particularly in the Late Middle Ages. Also the Counts of Drachenfels lived through heights and depths. The best known among them, Godart, was a very rich man, he had made a fortune with the trachyte from the Drachenfels. The Archbishop of Cologne was highly indebted to him, and in 1425 he had to pawn the Wolkenburg mountain with the castle on its top and the village of Königswinter to him. In 1493, Claus Count of Drachenfels was killed by his cousin Heinrich. Still today, a stone cross stands at the scene of the crime, the Kuckstein (in front of the Nibelungenhalle).

Between 1618-48, the devastating Thirty Years' War raged all over Europe. The Prince-Archbishop of Cologne had sent Tilly three regiments for reinforcements. In 1632,  the Swedish General Baudissin marched against the Archbishopric of Cologne.

Destruction of the castles on the Drachenfels and the  Löwenburg

In 1633, Swedish troops under General Baudissin conquered the Drachenfels and destroyed its outer parts. Probably shortly after they were driven away by the Spaniards. About the same time, the Löwenburg castle was destroyed.  About ten years later, in 1642, the Archbishop ordered the Drachenfels castle to be demolished. After that, the Drachenfels was used as quarry. 

In 1815, Napoleon was finally defeated in Waterloo. In that year, Statesmen from all over Europe convened in the Congress of Vienna to reorganize Europe territorially. Prussia, a state in the East, was granted the Rhineland and Westphalia. The Seven Mountains now were part of the Kingdom of Prussia under Frederick William III.  

At the beginning of the 19th century, the damages done to the Drachenfels had become alarming. In 1826, part of the walls of the ruin crumbled. Two years later the Prussian authorities (since the Congress of Vienna, the Rhineland belonged to the Prussian Empire) ordered all the Drachenfels quarries closed. In 1829, the Drachenfels was classified as historical monument and thereby put under preservation order. In 1836, the Prussian Government bought the upper part of the Drachenfels with the ruin, for its protection.

Walking down, there also is a lot to see. In direction to Rhöndorf, you come through the "wild forest", direction Königwinter you see the Drachenburg castle, the Little Honey House and the Lemmerzbad, a public swimming pool. I'm particularly happen when I see some Drachenfels donkeys on the lawn in front of the Lemmerzbad.

How to get there

See also

Seven Mountains map with motorways
Map of the region