Castle garden The square castle garden is enclosed by walls and was built after the Middle Ages. A gate in the north-western corner of the wall led to the Burgflecken. In the middle of the west side stood a house from the
Baroque period, which has not survived. It had walls linking it to the outer castle gate.
Outer gate with zwinger and gatehouse The outer castle gate, built in the 14th century, served as an entrance to the smaller, outer courtyard of the castle, which at the same time had the function of a
zwinger. In the 16th century the gate building was replaced. It was not until the 18th century that the entrance was covered by a two-storey, south-east-facing building
timber-framed house. This so-called gateman's house (
Pförtnerhaus) was reconstructed in 1979 after having been destroyed during the
Second World War. Today it is used by the Düren branch of the
German Alpine Club and Nideggen
Mountain Rescue Team.
Inner castle gate (main gate) The late
Romanesque gate building has been the only access to the main castle since time immemorial. It is connected to the
donjon of the castle by a
curtain wall. After the gate had been destroyed by wars and earthquakes, it was rebuilt between 1901 and 1906 and extended with a staircase on the west side.
Tower house Built between 1177 and 1190, the tower house is the oldest part of Nideggen Castle. On its eastern side is a deep
neck ditch. Around 1350, the tower was increased in height to six storeys. Inside, the
castle chapel is on the ground floor, next to the dungeon. The remaining floors each have two rooms which, in addition to living quarters, were used as storerooms and garrison rooms (
Mannschaftsräume). The tower was heated and had toilets from its early days. To be able to defend it well, its
elevated entrance on the south side was well above ground level and could only be reached by ladder. Only when the main gate and the
enceinte had been built, were the present ground-level entrance and a
staircase tower built. After the roof had been sold for scrap at the turn of the 18th century, the brickwork suffered great damage in the period that followed and this was not rectified until 1906. From 1925 to 1944, the donjon housed a local history museum. After severe damage in the
Second World War, it was rebuilt in 1954 and 1955 and furnished with a roof again in 1979. Since then, it has housed the first castle museum in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Palas With a length of 61 metres and a width of 16 metres, the
palas was the largest hall building on a German castle of the 14th century. Both on the ground floor and on the upper floor, it housed a two-nave hall with twelve large
cross-windows. On its west and east side it is flanked by two octagonal side towers. At the north-western corner of the
palas there was originally a
staircase tower, on whose foundations stands the small tower of today's restaurant. Remains of columns are still to be found in the middle of the hall building, as well as remains of walls indicating the former location of the north wall. In the front wall was a secondary staircase to the upper floor. Below the palace there are cellar vaults, some of which are filled in. Among other things, they served as a kitchen.
Kitchen tower The east flank of the
palas is protected by an octagonal tower from the middle of the 14th century, whose height until 1944 was still 14 metres. Fragments of a staircase, which presumably led to the top of the tower, have survived. The lower floor served as a storeroom. Primarily, however, the tower had to fulfil defensive functions, as indicated by its very small window apertures.
West Tower (so-called Damenerker) The West Tower with its large windows also consists mainly of 14th century buildings and served representative purposes. Inside, there are remains of a chimney, which is why the
cabinets are also found here for the female members of the count's family.
Well The
castle well partly followed a natural crevice and was once 95 metres deep. Since 1945, however, it has only been about 30 metres.
Buildings on the west and north side The appearance of the buildings that used to stand on the west and north side of the castle is largely unknown. The present ones were rebuilt between 1901 and 1906 on old foundations. After their destruction in the Second World War, they were rebuilt again between 1948 and 1950. Today the castle restaurant is located here. == Castle museum ==