Kastelburg Castle Ruins, Waldkirch, Germany

Kastelburg castle was built between 1260 and 1270 by the Lords of Schwarzenberg. Like the Schwarzenburg on the opposite side of the valley its purpose was to defend the town Waldkirch and to control the trade route through the Elz valley.

The first inhabitant of the castle was Johann I of Schwarzenberg. The Schwarzenbergs died out already in 1345 and the castle was sold to Martin Malterer from Freiburg who fell in 1386 in the Battle of Sempach. In 1429 the castle was passed on to Berthold of Staufen.

In the Thirty Years' War the castle was destroyed by troops of the Kaiser on 14 March 1634 so that it did not fall into the hands of the advancing Swedish troops.

In recent years attempts have been made to conserve the edificial structure of the ruin that is standing romantically above the historic center of Waldkirch.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Gina Saarberg (12 months ago)
The castle was a nice walk up from the town, through a forest area. Along the way you are greeted with several knights with informational plaques. These are in German only, but if you can read the language, you can test your knowledge when you stand before the castle! My personal favourite was the one about how much the armor of the knights cost, in the currency of cows. The castle itself is free. It's a ruin, and there are a few informational posts, mainly at the entrance. The view over Waldkirch was absolutely stunning. We visited on a warm day at the end of summer (25°C+), and therefore the amount of small lizards running around highly outnumbered the amount of other visitors we came across (5 or 6 people). I wish there was a place to donate for maintenance, because it deserves to be seen by a larger crowd. Would absolutely recommend to visit!

Ronald van der Laan (2 years ago)
Check also my youtube channel for drone footage of places i travelled. Droneald. Kastelburg ruïne absolute worth visiting. Nice vieuw of the city/village, and really nice to walk the stairsof the old tower.

mei boia (3 years ago)
Fun little hike, nice view at the end. The tower was closed so we couldn't go in unfortunately.

Kevin Gagnon (SnarkyWine) (4 years ago)
Great little walk for young families, and the lovely ruin offers a great view of the Elz valley and Waldkirch.

Valentina Garrido (6 years ago)
Very good! You also have different ways to get there into the forest

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