Burg Andeck

Burg Andeck stands on a narrow ridge of the Farrenberg, a hill reaching 820 metres above sea level near Mössingen. The spur drops steeply on three sides, giving the ruin a dramatic setting 780 metres above sea level. First mentioned in 1282, it belonged to the lords of Andeck, a local noble family. By 1624 travellers saw only walls and broken towers. In 1402 parts still survived: cisterns, two-storey buildings and gateways. The remains show how the fortress was organised. An inner, a middle and an outer bailey were separated by deep ditches. Excavations in 1970 uncovered the shield wall, and behind it the stump of a round tower, probably the keep. Visitors today walk over grassy mounds that mark the vanished halls and stables. At the foot of the ridge a yearly festival takes place on the Monday after Pentecost. The Schwäbischer Albverein’s Talheim group organises the Andeckfest, where families gather among the beech woods. From the crest there are wide views across the Alb plateau. The quiet hilltop is a reminder of the castle’s former strength and its slow surrender to time.