Burg Schweinhausen

Burg Schweinhausen stands on the western slope of the Hochgelände plateau, a spur rising about 640 metres above sea level. It overlooks the Riß valley from its eastern ridge, roughly 440 metres south-east of Schweinhausen church. The site belongs to the hamlet of Berg, part of the village of Hochdorf in the Biberach district. The ruins sit on a circular plot now used as a paddock, surrounded by trees. Only the deep defensive ditch, up to twelve metres deep, remains of the original stone walls. The area is privately owned and lies a few metres south of house number six in Berg. Built in the 11th century by the local lords of Schweinhausen, the castle first appears in records from 1083. After changing hands among the Neidegg family, Waldburg-Warthausen, Habsburg and the Schellenbergs, it was destroyed in 1525 and finally dismantled in 1609. Truchsess Heinrich von Waldburg later used stones from Schweinhausen and nearby Neideck to build Heinrichsburg castle near Eberhardzell. King Philip of Swabia and his bride Irene of Byzantium spent their honeymoon here from May to September 1197. An official document dated 30 July 1197, issued by Philip in Schweinhausen, survives from that stay. Visitors today see a grassy mound framed by trees, marking where the keep once stood. The great ditch cuts a deep curve around the edge of the site, its sheer sides still visible. A farm track runs close to the southern boundary near house Berg 6. The quiet valley below stretches away towards the Riß, offering a sense of the strategic view the castle once commanded. No walls or towers remain above ground, yet the scale of the earthworks hints at the fortress’s former size. The paddock is unfenced, so walkers can circle the ditch on foot.