Notre-Dame de l′Assomption (Our Lady of the Assumption) is a Catholic parish church in the small town of Bergheim. The current church building was preceded by an earlier one, already dedicated to Mary, recorded in the year 705 and visited by Bernard of Clairvaux in 1146, while on his way from Basel to Worms to rally for the Second Crusade. That previous church was destroyed in 1287 during the great fire of Bergheim, which was started by the troops of Rudolf I of Germany. The current Bergheim church was built from 1320 to 1347 and largely modified from 1718 to 1725, which accounts for the fact that it presents features both of Gothic architecture and of Neoclassical architecture.
The church is remarkable for its Gothic frescoes (both on the outside and the inside), which had been concealed in the 18th-century and rediscovered in 1959. A pair of Gothic statues from around 1460 are thought to be from the workshop of Nikolaus Gerhaert.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.