Castle Sternenburg

The oldest reference to the wealthy Berntges family was in the 16th century. In 1591, Peter Berntges (ca. 1550-1620) erected a four-storied- stone building in the former Rheingasse. This building was much higher than the adjacent timber-framed-houses and thus named „Castle“. The Berntges family coat of arms is made up of five stars. The family held the offices of lay judges and mayors. Franz Vogts (1757-1841), a very successful trader from Kempen/Lower Rhine married into the family. In 1801 he converted the „Sternenburg“ into the lower Rhine-style. During the French Revolutionary Wars Vogts became the saviour of Unkel.

Changing occupations and lootings in the time after 1793 completely impoverished the population of Unkel. The town was able to survive purely due to the financial help of the nimble businessman Franz Vogts. Consequently they named the street „Vogtsgasse“.

Between World War I and II the then operating Rheinhotel Schulz company acquired the „Sternenburg“ for their staff. In the 1990s the owners left the house empty and let it decay. The monument protection authority enforced the preservation of the „Sternenburg“, but this led to an almost complete demolition in 2007. The replica naturally does not have the same valuable interior. Unkel had lost the oldest private house to solid construction with the destruction of the „Sternenburg“.