Sirgenstein Castle (german: Burgrest Sirgenstein) is a
ruined
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberat ...
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
on rock, over twenty metres high, with a cave inhabited in the Stone Age, the ''Sirgenstein'', between the town of
Blaubeuren
Blaubeuren () is a town in the district of Alb-Donau near Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
it had 11,963 inhabitants.
Geography Geographical location
The core city Blaubeuren lies at the foot of the Swabian Jura, west of Ulm.
Neighbori ...
Alb-Donau-Kreis
Alb-Donau-Kreis is a (district) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Biberach, Reutlingen, Göppingen and Heidenheim, the two Bavarian districts Günzburg and Neu-Ulm, and the city o ...
in
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...
.
The
rock castle
A rock castle (german: Felsenburg) is a type of medieval castle that directly incorporates natural rock outcrops into its defences to such an extent that the rock formations define the structure of the castle. Topographically, rock castles are cl ...
was probably built in the 13th century. Today its visible remains include castle walls, rusticated ashlar blocks and a
neck ditch
A neck ditch (german: Halsgraben), sometimes called a throat ditch, at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry .
Literature
* Krahe, Friedrich-Wilhelm:''castles in medieval Germany: Plan-lexicon.'' Würzburg: Verlag Flechsig, 2000 ().
* Schmitt, Gunter:''Sirgenstein''. In the same author:''Castle Guide Swabian Alb. Volume 2: Alb mid-South. Explore hiking and between Sigmaringen and Ulm.'' Biberach an der Riss: Biberach printing house, 1989, p. 75-78 ().
* Uhl, Stefan:''Castles''Schelklingen Schelklingen. City Archives, 1991 (Schelklingen books, 18).
See also
*
List of castles in Baden-Württemberg
Numerous castles can be found in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. These buildings, some of which have a history of over 1000 years, were the setting of historical events, domains of famous personalities and are still imposing buildings to ...