Castle Hemmersbach

The name of the Hemmersbach Castle can be traced back to the nobleman Wigmannus von Heymenbach, who lived in the period around 980 A.D. In the year 1326, the property changed hands to the Scheiffart von Merode family, because the Hemmersbach line died out due to lack of male successors.

The Scheiffart von Merode family tree ended in 1620, again due to lack of heirs. In 1621, Heinrich von Vercken was granted the Hemmersbach Castle by the Count Palatine. In 1709, the first woman assumed rule over Hemmersbach Castle. Charlotte von Vercken was the last of her family.
Finally, in 1751, the underaged Franz Adolph Berghe von Trips was granted possession of Hemmersbach Castle, due to the fact that the Trips family was descended from the Scheiffart von Merode family.

In the 20th century the Hemmersbach Castle was more the focus of public interest than ever before. Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, the last descendent of the noble family, was a famous Formula One race car driver. He died in 1961 in a car crash while racing in Monza, Italy. With her death in 1978 marked the end of the Count Berghe von Trips ancestral line. The family inhabited the Hemmersbach Castle for a total of 227 years.

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