Stahleck Castle (German: Burg Stahleck) is a 12th-century fortified castle in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley at Bacharach in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It stands on a crag approximately 160 metres (520 ft) above sea level[1] on the left bank of the river at the mouth of the Steeg valley, approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Koblenz, and offers a commanding view of the Lorelei valley. Its name means "impregnable castle on a crag", from the Middle High German words stahel (steel) and ecke (here: crag).[1] It has a water-filled partial moat, a rarity in Germany. Built on the orders of the Archbishop of Cologne, it was destroyed in the late 17th century but rebuilt in the 20th and is now a hostel.
- ^ a b "STAHLECK Burg (Stadt Bacharach)", Elmar Rettinger, Historisches Ortslexikon Rheinland-Pfalz Volume 2 Ehemaliger Kreis St. Goar, Institut für Geschichtliche Landeskunde an der Universität Mainz 37, Stuttgart: Steiner, 1996, ISBN 978-3-515-05889-6 (in German) (pdf)