Burg Rheinsberg

The Burg Rheinsberg stands on a 404-metre ridge between the Murg and Bad Säckingen in the Rheintal. The Habsburgs built it in the 13th century to defend Säckingen’s convent. Rudolf von Tegerfelden held it as a pledge in 1281. Later owners included the Geroldseck family and the Ratz patricians of Säckingen. By 1608 it was already a ruin called a Burgstall. The castle saw brief revivals during the Thirty Years’ War and again in 1691 when over a thousand troops were stationed here. The Hauensteiner Landfahnen guarded the works, though Waldshut refused to send men. In 1701 the rebuilt defences proved vital in the War of Spanish Succession. By 1744 the French had levelled the site in the Austrian War of Succession. Today only low earthworks mark the former stronghold. The ridge top shows slight rises where faint wall remnants may still lie buried. The surrounding valley and the Hotzenwald heights stretch away on every side.