Namedy Castle is a moated castle dating back to the 14th century, which was converted into a palace complex in 1890. The house has been owned by our family - the Princes of Hohenzollern - since 1907. Prince Godehard inherited the castle in 1989, restored it with the help of the State Monuments Office and the Foundation for Monument Protection and installed a cultural program that today offers around 30 art events - jazz, classical music, theater, readings, art, dance projects etc.. Friends and cultural partners include the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Villa Musica Foundation, the district of Mayen-Koblenz with its outstanding Summer Classics series and the town of Andernach.
Namedy Castle is located on one of the most beautiful stretches of the Middle Rhine, nestled in picturesque surroundings. The history of the castle dates back to the end of the 14th century: the "real" thing about it is the nobility of a late Gothic moated castle built by the Hausmann von Andernach knights, which can still be seen today in the stonework and the beautiful outer bailey. Their wives came from the best Rhenish houses, such as Eltz, Metternich, von der Leyen, Waldbott-Bassenheim etc. After frequent changes of ownership, the castle came into the possession of Baron von Solemacher in 1896. He had the castle renovated and extended in the historicist style. The addition of a further residential storey and the addition of two side wings gave the building the ground plan of an "Us" with a north and a short south wing. In 1908, Prince Carl-Anton von Hohenzollern and his wife Princess Joséphine of Belgium, the sister of King Albert I, acquired "Burg Namedy" as their residence. Prince Carl Anton had the festive Hall of Mirrors added to the north side of the castle, and during the First World War, Princess Joséphine ran a military hospital in the Hall of Mirrors. In 1919, after the death of Prince Carl-Anton, his son Prince Albrecht took over the castle. He altered the façade and provided the large tower in the stone courtyard and the stair tower in the gravel courtyard with baroque-style domes.
Due to the outbreak of the Second World War, the restoration of the front of the castle could no longer be carried out. In 1988, after the death of his parents, Prince Godehard took over the estate. Together with his wife Princess Heide, he developed the "Namedy Castle Encounter" project. Their shared dream: to turn Namedy Castle into a cultural meeting place and to establish a permanent cultural program within its historic walls. A long way to go. Because when Prince Godehard inherited the castle, which was in need of renovation, there was nothing left of the actual beauty of the building. Water ingress had destroyed the ceilings and panels. Most of the heating and electrics no longer existed. The hall of mirrors was only used as a storage room, where everything was rotting due to the constant damp. When, after a quarter of a year of clearing, the simple and elegant lines of the hall were finally visible, the first rehearsal concert with the Salzburg soloists took place to test the acoustics. Artists, audience and press were delighted. The chamber music festival "Andernacher Musiktage auf Burg Namedy" was born and the famous violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin took over the patronage until his death in 1999. In the following years, Prince Godehard began to carefully build up a music program from Munich, where he worked as a banker.The renovation of the facility was advanced with the active help of friends from Germany and abroad. Since 1993, the extensive renovation work has been funded on a large scale by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments. Prince Godehard died in 2001 and his wife took over the event and cultural operations. Today, the castle halls are available for festive events, congresses, conferences, etc.
The city of Andernach's chamber music festival, the 30th Andernach Music Days, will take place from
May 7 to 9, 2021 at Namedy Castle.
