Ruine Burg Hohenwittlingen

Ruine Burg Hohenwittlingen stands on a mountain spur above the Erms River near Wittlingen, part of Bad Urach in Baden-Württemberg. The walls overlook the route between the Alb plateau and the Ermstal.

Knight Burkhard von Wittlingen built the spur castle in the early eleventh century, with its first documented mention dating from 1089 or 1090. Counts of Achalm-Urach, Zwiefalten Abbey and Württemberg later held the stronghold. In the sixteenth century, Johannes Brenz found refuge here from the soldiers of Emperor Charles V. Anabaptists, including the Hutterites Paul Glock and Matthias Binder, also stayed within these walls. A fire damaged the complex in 1576, while a small Württemberg garrison guarded the Ermstal during the Thirty Years’ War. Later, the castle became a prison for poachers and other criminals before local farmers used it as shelter for themselves and their livestock.

Today, a path crosses the outer and main baileys, passing the palas ruins, steps and a surviving portal. Rock-cut steps lead into the upper courtyard. The southern shield wall remains the striking feature, reaching 5.3 metres in thickness around the zwinger. An eastern enclosing wall preserves an original thickness of 1.8 metres. Small ashlar, humpback ashlar and plastered rubble masonry reveal three construction phases across the surviving stonework.