From the 14th–17th centuries, the castle was granted as a
fief by the archbishops of
Mainz. Its owners and feudal lords included:
1323 – Matthias, Count of Bucheck, Archbishop of Mainz
1348 –
Kuno II von Falkenstein, Archbishop of Mainz
1409 – John of Nassau enfeoffed the
Geheimrat, Johann von Selheim, with Königstein. Sometimes the archbishops of Mainz stayed here in their secular role as electors of the
Holy Roman Empire.
1459 –
Diether von Isenburg, Elector and Archbishop of Mainz, enfeoffed the castle and the village of
Assmannshausen (which is near the castle on the opposite bank of Rhine) to the cathedral student (
Domscholasten) Volpert.
1572 – The castle, together with its associated estate, was transferred to Mainz cathedral's custodian (
Domkustos) and chamberlain,
Anton Wiltberg. He could not maintain the castle economically, however. It gradually decayed, but remained Wiltberg's residence until his death.
1779 – the ruins were given a new owner:
Geheimrat J.von Eys. He alienated the buildings for four
Laubtalers to the
Regierungsrat Johann Jacob, Lord of Goll.
1823 – On 31 March 1823,
Prince Frederick of Prussia bought the castle ruins and the rocks. The prince was a nephew of King
Frederick William III of Prussia and
Queen Luise.
1825–
1829 – saw its rebuilding under the leadership of the famous castle builder,
Claudius Lassaulx, who was succeeded in 1827 by his pupil,
Wilhelm Kuhn, who completed the building. Prince Frederick named the castle "Rheinstein" because of its impressive cliffs directly above the river.
1842 – Rheinstein Castle became the favorite residence of Prince Frederick. Many crowned heads of state of that time were guests at the castle, such as
Queen Victoria, Empress
Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia and many others. Prince Frederick had the Wiesbaden architect, Ph. Hoffmann, draw up a plan for a chapel and crypt. Just two years later, the neo-Gothic chapel and crypt for the royal family was formally opened.
1863 – After the death of the prince his son,
Prince George of Prussia, inherited Rheinstein.
1902 –
Prince Henry of Prussia, a brother of
Kaiser William II, now inherits the castle.
1925 – the
AV Rheinstein zu Köln im CV, a German student fraternity is founded and named after Rheinstein Castle. The castle is visited by the fraternity on a yearly basis.
1929 – the wife of Prince Henry,
Irene of Hesse and by Rhine becomes the owner.
1953 – The last owner of the
German nobility is the Princess Barbara of Prussia, the
Duchess of Mecklenburg.
1975 – the castle is in private possession of the Hecher family In the 1980s, the castle was handed down to the Rhine Family, but they donated it to the government to be used as a museum. ==Notes and references==