Burg Kreuzberg

The Burg Kreuzberg stands on a low hill 400 metres east of Ummendorf church in the rolling farmland of Oberschwaben. It was built as a motte—a wooden tower on an earthen mound—by the local lords of Ummendorf. The first written record dates from 1357, and by 1525 the stone buildings had collapsed into ruins. The Freyberg-Steußlingen family and later the Schellenbergs took possession of the site after the Ummendorfs. All that remains today are the grassy mound and the deep neck ditch that once separated it from the spur of land. The outline of the vanished wooden tower is still faintly visible in the centre of the hilltop. Visitors walk up the gentle slope to the mound and follow a narrow path around its edge. From the top there are wide views over the patchwork of fields and distant villages. The quiet spot is best reached by car along quiet country lanes, where the only sounds are skylarks and the wind in the hedges.