Entersburg

The oldest evidence of the municipality of Hontheim is the Entersburg.

The first documented mention dates back to 1138, when it was called Nantersburg. This castle was located in the Üßbach valley between Hontheim and Bad Bertrich on a narrow mountain ridge with rocks sloping steeply down to the Üßbach. Today, an observation tower built around 1900 reminds us of the castle's location. At the end of the 1970s, the Trier State Museum carried out extensive excavations in the area of the Entersburg. The Celtic coins found during the excavations indicate that the area must have been settled in pre-Christian times. According to tradition, the lords of Entersbug were the brothers Werner and Johann von Nantersburg. When Archbishop Alberto of Trier accompanied Emperor Lothar II on a campaign to Italy, the two brothers seized his Trier castle of Arras near Alf. When Alberto heard of this, he hurried back home and, with a quickly gathered army, brought Arras Castle back under his control. Then he moved in front of Nantersburg, besieged it and when he conquered it, he razed it to the ground. A legend tells of the fate of the two brothers, that they were able to escape in a strange way. According to this, at the end of the siege the castle women asked for free departure with everything they could carry on their backs. So the women carried their men out of the castle and thus ensured their survival.