Burg Granheim

Burg Granheim stands on the Schlossberg, a 745-metre hill behind Schloss Granheim in the Alb-Donau district. The site lies at the left edge of Granheim, a village that forms part of the town of Ehingen in Baden-Württemberg. The name first appears in the 11th century as Granhaim, later as Graneheim in 1208. Local nobles are recorded from 1208 until about 1250, originally ministeriales of the lords of Steußlingen and later of the Gundelfingen family. The castle is thought to have been built by these nobles, probably in the 11th century, and by 1246 it was already a Burgstall, a ruined site.

The castle’s remains consist of a small U-shaped enclosure on the edge of a steep slope. A neck ditch, still about four to five metres wide and one to one-and-a-half metres deep, once defended the approach. The interior measures barely five metres across at the hillside and opens slightly toward the valley, with the ground falling about four metres from west to east. Northwest of the main ruin a small raised plateau shows a shallow square hollow, possibly the site of a tower. No visible fortifications survive today, and no excavations have been carried out to clarify the layout.

Visitors find a quiet hilltop with scant traces of the medieval fortress. The Burgstall is divided into two parts by the natural rock ledges that create the steep drop. A short walk from the village brings one to the small plateau where the hollow marks the former tower base. The surrounding Alb landscape stretches away toward the Danube valley, offering broad views across meadows and wooded slopes. The site invites a short climb for a sense of the castle’s former position without the clutter of modern structures.