A true witness to the Middle Ages is the high medieval ruins of the lowland castle of Hayn, also known as Dreieichenhain Castle, which lies at the end of the northern old town, nestled in a picturesque lake and park. It was built around 1080 in the Dreieich district of Dreieichhain as a five-storey Salian residential tower surrounded by a ring wall and a moat by Eberhard von Hagen. The building can be traced back to a royal hunting lodge around 950, which was surrounded by a moat. According to legend, it was founded by Emperor Charlemagne, but this is not historically proven. Hayn Castle became the ancestral castle of the Lords of Hagen-Münzenberg, who had it expanded into an imperial castle. During this time, the residential tower was integrated into the castle complex. A keep, a great hall with Romanesque and Gothic vaulted cellars and a castle chapel were built. To protect the castle, castle men settled there. Opposite the castle, a farmstead with kennels for hunting dogs was built. This led to the castle being nicknamed ‘The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation’s Dog Kennel’. The foundation stone for the town was laid with the construction of the first houses outside the castle complex. After the Hagen-Münzenberg family died out in 1255, the castle complex became a Ganerbenburg (jointly owned castle). This was continuously expanded over the following decades. Institutions such as a school, a church and a castle guard house were built. In the 15th century, there were several changes of ownership. Due to a lack of funds to maintain the castle, the town of Dreieich had parts of it demolished in the 18th century. In 1750, the residential tower collapsed. From then on, the town’s citizens used the remains of the castle as a quarry. A legal dispute prevented the castle from being completely demolished. Since 1931, Hayn Castle has been owned by the Dreichenhain History and Heritage Association. Today, the castle houses the Dreieich Museum, which provides interesting information about Hayn Castle and Dreiechenhain. Hayn Castle also hosts the popular Burgfestspiele festival every year during the festival summer in southern Hesse, which delights audiences with six weeks of varied events. When I visited Hayn Castle, I felt as if I had been transported back to the Middle Ages. The entire medieval old town with its Franconian half-timbered houses, which are listed as historical monuments, is surrounded by a Romanesque-Gothic city wall with an upper and lower gate, which allowed me to walk in the footsteps of the Middle Ages.
