Trutzeltz Castle

Trutzeltz Castle Burg Trutzeltz
Balduineltz, Baldeneltz, Neueltz
Wierschem
Eltz (l) and Trutzeltz (r) castles
Trutzeltz Castle Burg Trutzeltz
Coordinates	50°12′25″N 7°20′11″E / 50.2070722°N 7.3363250°E / 50.2070722; 7.3363250Coordinates: 50°12′25″N 7°20′11″E / 50.2070722°N 7.3363250°E / 50.2070722; 7.3363250
Type	hill castle
Code	DE-RP
Height	360 m above sea level (NN)
Site information
Condition	Ruins, tower remains, foundation walls
Site history
Built	um 1336
Garrison information
Occupants	clergy

The ruins of Trutzeltz Castle (German: Burg Trutzeltz), also known as Balduineltz, Baldeneltz or Neueltz, are the remains of a hill castle in the valley of the Elz in the parish of Wierschem near the town of Münstermaifeld. It was built as a counter-castle during the medieval Eltz Feud in the Moselle region.

Trutzeltz stands just 230 metres north of Eltz Castle and 40 metres higher at an elevation of 360 m above sea level (NN) on the rising hillslopes. The very small castle site measures just 30 × 25 metres. The ruins consiste mainly of the still over 10 metre-high remains of the tower house and other foundation walls.

The castle was built by the Archbishop of Trier, Baldwin during the Eltz Feud (1331-1336/1337) as a siege castle to invest Eltz Castle. The Eltz Feud arose in connexion with Baldwin's territorial policy. During his reign, Baldwin sought to extend the influence of Trier along the Moselle. He repeatedly came up against resistance from knights who had refused to recognise their vassal (tenant) status, and 21 of them - the lords of Eltz, Waldeck, Schoneck and Ehrenberg - agreed a formal defensive alliance. Baldwin attempted a direct assault on Eltz which failed. In response, he had the siege castle of Trutzeltz built, probably in 1331. The castle was also referred to as Baldeneltz, probably after the archbishop. The following year he also erected the Rauschenburg as a counter castle to the three other castles allied with Eltz. That Baldeneltz was probably built in a very short time to put the lords of Eltz under pressure, can be seen inter alia from the building material used: mostly small pieces of broken stone from the vicinity of the siege castle itself. It was held together with a strong clay mortar, which however cannot withstand a Central European climate in the long run. For a siege castle this was not important, but it is remarkable in that light that the continued existence of the castle was contractually assured in a subsequent peace treaty.