Court dismisses prince's claim to Rheinfels Castle
Bettina Baumann law
June 26, 2019
The German town of St. Goar has owned Rheinfels Castle on the Rhine River for 95 years, but a disgruntled prince claims it is his. A Koblenz regional court has dismissed the Prince of Prussia's claim — for now.
Image: picture-alliance/imageBroker
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Who is the rightful owner of Rheinfels Castle, the former estate of the German Hohenzollern noble family in the picturesque Loreley Valley?
The castle is located in a UNESCO World Heritage area and draws tourists from all over the world, making it a valuable piece of property. But the question of who the true owner is has been brought before the courts.
For Prince Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia, the answer is clear: the rightful owner is not the Rhineland-Palatinate town of St. Goar — the current owner — but rather himself.
The great-great-grandson of Wilhelm II —the last German Emperor and King of Prussia — attempted to reclaim the castle with a lawsuit against the town, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and the Rheinfels Castle Hotel that sits inside the 13th century building.
But his claim to the castle was struck down at the Koblenz Regional Court on Tuesday, June 25, in a judgement from Judge Christian Stumm, who dismissed the complaint. However, the decision is not yet final.
Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia believes he is the true owner of Rheinfels Castle Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Hope for an amicable solution
The mayor of St. Goar, Horst Vogt, told DW that he expects the prince will appeal the decision and, if necessary, will take it to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
If this were not possible, Georg Friedrich would not have taken such great measures, Vogt said, referencing the prince's 300-page written complaint and the costs of the proceedings.
A lawyer representing Hohenzollern explained to DW that the reasons for Judge Stumm's ruling would be carefully examined and a recommendation would be made to their client.
While the prince could benefit from taking the case to another court where it might be handled differently, it is still hoped than an amicable solution can be found.
Gert Ripp, the operator of the Rheinfels Castle Hotel, told DW that he still believes an agreement with the prince can be reached and it should not be assumed that the case will reach the Karlsruhe court.
Prussia's glamour and glory — the most beautiful palaces in Brandenburg
Magnificent castles to this day represent the past power of Prussia in north-eastern Germany. In addition to their main residence in Berlin, the Hohenzollern family had many magnificent buildings built in Brandenburg.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Sanssouci Palace
Small but fine: Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam was only Frederick the Great's summer residence, but today it is the world star among the palaces of the Prussian royal family. Sanssouci Palace — translated "without a care" — enchants hundreds of thousands of tourists every year with its picturesque location and architectural sophistication.
Image: picture-alliance/C. Wojtkowski
The New Palace
This gigantic palace is only a few minutes walk from Sanssouci Palace. Despite its size, it is by far not as well known as the pleasure palace, even if the splendor of the interiors astonishes every visitor. The large complex with its festival halls, galleries and princely apartments once served to represent Prussia.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Charlottenhof Palace
The Crown Prince and later King Frederick William IV was given the Baroque country manor by his father as a Christmas present in 1825. He had it redesigned by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and the garden designer Peter Joseph Lenne into a neo-classical palace. Like the other two palaces, Charlottenhof is located in Sanssouci Park.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Kalaene
Babelsberg Palace
Looking at Babelsberg Palace on the banks of the Havel, one feels transported to England. The castle was built in English neo-Gothic style and served as a summer residence for the royal and later imperial couple William I and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. In the 1860s and 1880s, Babelsberg became one of the most important places of social and political life in Prussia.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Settnik
Marble Palace
On the outskirts of Potsdam, you will find the New Garden, an English-style landscape park offering great views of the Havel lakes. The Marble Palace or Marmorpalais, a summer residence of King Frederick William II, is located in this romantic landscape. The building, clad in Silesian marble, is the only early classicist royal palace of the Hohenzollern family.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Settnik
Cecilienhof Palace
Cecilienhof Castle in the style of an English country house, also located in the New Garden, is the last erected by the Hohenzollerns. After the Second World War, from July 17 to August 2, 1945, history was written here, because the victorious allied powers met in Cecilienhof. The Potsdam Conference is regarded as a symbol for the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War.
Image: picture-alliance/Eventpress
Caputh Palace
Caputh Castle looks back on 350 years of history. The little pleasure palace from the era of Frederick William the Great Elector of Brandenburg is an art historical jewel that testifies to the splendor of princely living around 1700. Where once great feasts were celebrated, a vocational school was built in the middle of the 20th century after the building was sold. Caputh Castle is now a museum.
Frederick William I, known as the "Soldier King" and father of Frederick the Great, loved Wusterhausen, southeast of Berlin. He prepared himself for his reign and later spent happy days with his family in autumn here. It was from here that he performed his sovereign duties and indulged his great passion for hunting.
Image: picture-alliance/A. Franke
Paretz Palace
Far removed from the courtly etiquette and pomp of Berlin, the Prussian capital, Queen Luise spent the summer months every year with her husband Frederick William III and their children in the secluded Havel landscape in Paretz. Here, 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from Potsdam, they not only enjoyed family life but also demonstrated a modern form of rural life.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Settnik
Oranienburg Palace
Around 1700, Oranienburg Palace was regarded as the most beautiful of the Prussian residences. Its history began as the country estate of the Princess of Oranien-Nassau, who gave the place its name "Oranienburg." Over the centuries the castle has been used and extended in a variety of ways. Today you can admire magnificent works of art such as royal silver or ivory furniture in the palace museum.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Soeder
Rheinsberg Palace
Frederick the Great spent his happiest days as Crown Prince in Rheinsberg Palace on Grienerick Lake. He liked music, the arts and created a court of muses in Rheinsberg, which his brother Prince Heinrich continued. Theodor Fontane was also inspired by a muse here, and in his travelogue, "Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg" (Rambles in Brandenburg), he set the castle a literary monument.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Schönherr
Evidence of a bygone era
Prussia existed from 1701 to 1918. A lost empire, which above all stood for obedience, fulfillment of duty and militarism, but also for tolerance and religious freedom. Spiked helmets and uniforms shape our image of that time. However, it is above all the palaces of the Hohenzollern family that are still magnificent testimonies to the Kingdom of Prussia to this day.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Settnik
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Why is the prince claiming Rheinfels?
The Hohenzollern family, of which Georg Friedrich is a member, had owned the castle since the 19th century. The town of St. Goar became the owner in 1942 on the condition that the huge medieval walls not be sold.
In 1998, the town and the hotel entered into a 99-year lease with the castle, with the possibility of an equally long extension. But the Prince of Prussia argues that a 99-year lease is equivalent to selling the castle.
Hotel operator Ripp believes the prince is only interested in claiming his rights, but St. Goar mayor Vogt is convinced that "money" is the motivation behind what he called a "raid."
"Otherwise he would have come…earlier with his claim," said Vogt, rather than waiting until after the state, the city and the leaseholder had invested millions of euros into the castle.
In the court decision, the judge stated that the castle ruins had been given to the Prussian crown's administration after the fall of the empire as "bound special assets," rather than private property of the Hohenzollern family.
Only the administration, not the Hohenzollern family, was granted the right to withdraw from the agreement when the castle was transferred to St. Goar in 1998, if there was concern over monument protection or the castle was sold.
This means the castle could never have fallen into the hands of the Hohenzollern family. At best, it could have become the property of the Prussian state.
While Ripp and Vogt await the final result of the case, they have both put further investments into the castle on hold. Georg Friedrich and his lawyers have one month to appeal the decision.
