Twierdza Regenstein Blankenburg

Of this once relatively impregnable castle, which was built in the early and high Middle Ages on a 294 metre high sandstone rock towering over the surrounding area, only ruins are visible today. Several internal rooms, carved into the rock, have survived, as have the ruins of the keep. The castle is surrounded by remnants of a more recent fortress. Regenstein Castle is No. 80 in the system of checkpoints on the Harzer Wandernadel hiking trail network. Below the castle is the site of the old Regenstein Mill that used to supply it with water. In 1162 the Comes de Regenstein (Count of Regenstein), Conrad, was mentioned for the first time. He was the son of Count Poppo I of Blankenburg from the House of Reginbodonen). The castle became renowned mainly through Count Albert II of Regenstein (1310-1349) who, in the 1330s, had frequent disputes with the rulers of the surrounding towns, the Bishop of Halberstadt and the Abbess of Quedlinburg. This has been romantically recounted in the ballad, Der Raubgraf (“The