Hertenstein Castle, part of the moat Hertenstein Castle, part of the moat Hertenstein Castle is a ruined

spur castle A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur (mountain), spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where t ...

approximately southwest of the village of Billingsbach, part of the municipality of

Blaufelden Blaufelden is a municipality in the district of Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the ...

, in the district of

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; 'Swabian Hall'; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the N ...

in the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Description

The castle is located on a steep hill above the confluence of two

streams A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large stream ...

(the ''Billingsbach'' and the ''Rötelbach'') at an elevation of . The main approach of the castle to the northeast was protected by an long artificial

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

running from the steep slopes to the north towards the neighbouring hill in the south. The moat is between deep. Out of the moat a

mound A mound is a wikt:heaped, heaped pile of soil, earth, gravel, sand, rock (geology), rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded ...

rises which are the remains of the outer

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, followed by a drop of towards the inner ward. Inside the inner ward is a flat triangular area about long and wide, in the middle of which the remains of the ''

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries an ...

'' (

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

) are found. All that is left of the keep is a mound rising up to with a diameter of . The keep was built of rustication buckel stones (squared-off stones with a rounded outer surface). Only the moat is clearly visible today as none of the castle's structures above ground have survived. The whole area is covered by dense

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

History

The castle was built in the early 13th century. The original builders and owners of the castle are unknown. The existence of a castle is only documented as late as 1314 when a certain Eberhard von Hertenstein, lord of Billingsbach and

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

of the counts of

Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe () is a German princely dynasty. It formerly ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire, which was divided between several branches. In 1806, the area of Hohenlohe was 1,760 km² and its estimated pop ...

, appeared as a witness in a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

. The lords of Billingsbach seemed to have moved to the spur castle at the beginning of the 14th century. Yet, towards the end of the 14th century, after the extinction of the House of Billingsbach and the castle's return to the counts of Hohenlohe in 1370, the castle appeared to have lost its function as a dwelling place for the local nobility. On a map from 1578, the castle is indicated as being in a ruinous state.

Function

A trading route leading from

Künzelsau Künzelsau (; East Franconian: ''Kinzelse'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, in south central Germany. It is the capital of the Hohenlohe district. It is located on the river Kocher, 19 km (12 mi) north of Schwäbisch Hall, and 37 ...

through the valley of the

Jagst The Jagst () is a right tributary of the Neckar in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The source of this 190 km long river is in the hills east of Ellwangen, close to the Bavarian border. The Jagst winds through the towns of Ellwangen, Cra ...

towards

Schrozberg Schrozberg is a town in the district of Schwäbisch Hall, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located west of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and northeast of Schwäbisch Hall. Schrozburg Castle of the Lords of Schrozberg was built in the 12th c ...

and

Rothenburg ob der Tauber Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town located in the district of Ansbach (district), Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved Middle Ages, medieval old town, a d ...

passed through Billingsbach, where it crossed two streams. One of the functions of Hertenstein Castle was to guard this crossing and to protect travellers.

Excavation

In 1948 and 1950, excavations on a small scale revealed shards of ceramics and other artefacts from the medieval period as well as the 16th century, indicating that the castle was inhabited at least until the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

.A. Schneider, ''Die Burgen im Kreis Schwäbisch Hall'', p. 28f.

References

External links

{{Castles in Schwäbisch Hall