The Rheinstein fortress has had several names in history such as Vaitzburg or Voitsberg, a medieval fortress situated on the middle Rhine in the Mainz-Bingen district of the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
The fortress is set on the left bank of the Rhine, situated on a cliff 90 m above the river, to the east is Binger Wald (Bingen Forest). The fortress is located between the Rhine, Bingen and Trechtingshausen near Rheinknie (the Rhine Curb) and the Ehrenfels fortress on the right bank of the Rhine.
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After the last researches it is assumed that the construction of the fortress would have begun in the years 1316/1317. The fortress was first mentioned in 1323 as the property of the principality of Mainz (Kurmainz), built during Archbishop Peter von Aspelt (1306-1320). It was built to control and defend the land against the knights who preyed the region under the leadership of the Castelans von Hohenfels. They were defeated in 1286 and their city was destroyed by King Rudolf von Habsburg. Eventually, after the fortress had more owners and suffered damage from succession wars on the throne, the ruin would be rebuilt in 1816 by the Prussian master Karl Friedrich Schinkel.
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In 1973 Princess Barbara von Hessen sought to sell the fortress, being cheated by a so-called English buyer who, before disappearing, stole from the fortress a series of valuable objects. This theft has considerably diminished the sale price of the fortress. Today the renovated fortress is privately owned and can be visited by tourists, being also used as a romantic wedding place
