Castle Kransberg

Kransberg Castle is situated on a steep rock near Kransberg (incorporated into Usingen in 1971), a village with about 800 inhabitants in the Taunus mountains in the German state of Hesse. The medieval building, which acquired its current appearance in the late 19th century, served military and intelligence purposes in World War II and during the Cold War. It was returned to its original representation purposes during the second half of the 20th century, and briefly became a business park for small information technology and internet companies in the early post-millennium years.

The original Kransberg castle was constructed around 1170, presumably based on a fortification that dates back to the 11th century. The first documented owner (in 1250) was Erwinus de Cranichesberc (Middle High German for Kranichsberg = crane mountain). In 1310 the castle was sold to Duke Philipp IV. von Falkenstein. It was inherited by the nobility of Eppstein in 1433, and briefly fell to the Königstein line in 1522 when Gottfried X. von Eppstein died. It passed on to the County of Stolberg in 1535, to the Archbishopric of Mainz in 1581, and was sold to the Waldbott von Bassenheim family in 1654.

The castle fell into disrepair from the late 18th century onward until it was sold to the Duchy of Nassau in 1853. It fell to the state of Prussia in 1866 which in 1874 sold it to Arnold von Biegeleben, a Baron from Darmstadt who recreated and extended it in the neogothic style. Only parts of the outward fortifications and the central tower remained essentially unchanged.

Emma von Scheitlein, of Austrian nobility, acquired the castle in 1926 and used it for society events until the Nazi government appropriated it in 1939 and put it to military use.

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