Stein's castle

Stein's Castle is a town castle in the centre of Nassau. It served as the seat of the imperial knight family von Stein and the Prussian reform minister Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein grew up there.


The two-storey castle building, dated 1621, has a Renaissance portal next to the central tower, a memorial tower from 1815/16 on the south side and a charming castle park with Stein's favourite tree, the gingko bolboa (Japanese golden fruit tree), at the rear.


In Stein's castle, Baron von und zum Stein worked on his famous "Nassau Memorandum of 11 June 1807", which called for self-government and citizen participation in the state.


The octagonal memorial tower, a monument to romantic artistic reflection, was erected by Stein in 1815/16 to commemorate the wars of liberation against Napoleon I. On the first floor is Stein's study with 18 portraits of famous Germans and the desk with the famous saying: "I have only one fatherland, that is Germany". The upper floor is the memorial hall with plaques commemorating the wars of liberation.


The castle is owned by Stein's descendants in the female line, the Counts of Kanitz, and is not open to the public.