The ruins of Hohensyburg Castle in Dortmund are picturesquely situated above the Ruhr Valley and offer spectacular views as far as the mountains of the Sauerland.
Between Hagen and Dortmund, north of Lake Hengstey, which was dammed in the 1920s, the region makes history on a mountain of the Ardey Mountains: here visitors will find the ruins of Hohensyburg Castle, whose origins go back to a Saxon rampart castle, the Kaiser Wilhelm Monument, visible from afar, and the Vincke Tower. And above all, here, at one of the most popular excursion destinations in the Ruhr region, they find relaxation and a magnificent view.
The location on the steep western slope was strategically ideal - and yet it did not make the complex invulnerable: In 775 Charlemagne conquered the Saxon Sigiburg and from then on used it as a defensive fortress himself. The first castle was built in 1150 and served to secure the nearby imperial court of Westhofen. Destroyed in 1287, the ruins now house a memorial to the fallen. Not quite as far back in history is the Kaiser Wilhelm Monument from 1902: a 34-metre-high tower, in front of it the emperor on horseback, flanked by Otto von Bismarck and Count Helmuth von Moltke. Originally there were four side statues; however, the complex was rebuilt in 1935 in the style of National Socialism, and statues of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and Prince Friedrich Karl were removed. On the highest point of the Syberg, some 245 metres above sea level, an octagonal, 20-metre-high observation tower had already been erected in 1857 in memory of the first chief president of the province of Westphalia, Ludwig von Vincke. Vincke was honoured for his great services to the reconstruction of Westphalia after the French rule. Vincke was the owner of the medieval ruin through his marriage to Eleonore von Sieberg zum Busch. During the Second World War, the tower was used by the German Wehrmacht as an artillery observation post, badly damaged by shell hits and extensively restored in 1955. Today, the Kaiser monument, castle and Vincketurm are owned by the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL).
From the monument's viewing terrace, visitors have a sweeping view of the Ruhr valley, the mouth of the Lenne into the Ruhr and Lake Hengstey. And the view extends even further, provided the weather is good: as far as the mountains of the north-western Sauerland. In the west, you can also see the Koepchenwerk, a pumped-storage power plant, a site on Theme Route 9 "Industrial Culture on the Volme and Ennepe", which the Foundation for the Preservation of Industrial Monuments and Historical Culture has been taking care of since 2016. Walks in the nature reserve "Ruhrsteilhänge Hohensyburg" or on the "Syburger Bergbauweg" make nature and the region's past equally tangible.
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