Kerpen Castle

Kerpen Castle, locally known as Burg Kerpen, lies in the village of Illingen, in the Saarland region in Germany.

Kerpen Castle was first mentioned in 1359 as being 'an old property' of the Count of Saarwerden which had been given as a fief to Dietrich V von Kerpen. So it can be assumed that the castle was founded long before that time. Exactly when however is unknown. The ancestral seat of the Kerpen family was another Kerpen Castle, in another part of Germany more to the north.

In the 16th century the feudal sovereignty of the castle changed to the Counts of Saarbrücken. Around 1620 a bailey was added to the castle. The castle was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) but was restored after the end of the war by Johan Daniel von Kerpen. Only to be destroyed again when it was set on fire by French troops in 1677.

Following that last destruction, a lengthy reconstruction followed which lasted well into the 18th century. In 1748 the Kerpen family moved out of the castle and appointed a bailiff to take care of their castle. The Kerpen family lost ownership of the castle in 1794 due to an invasion of French revolutionary troops. It was returned to them by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806. In 1830 they finally sold it to a Bergrat Leopold Sello. After that, the castle quickly fell into ruin as it was used as a quarry by the locals.

The small castle seems to have had a square ground plan and was circled by a moat, fed by the river Ill.

At present Kerpen Castle is part of a public park and can freely be visited. A nice small castle ruin.

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