Burg Brie

Burg Brie was a medieval water castle on the left bank of the Neckar in what is now Bad Cannstatt, a district of Stuttgart. Built around 1230 as a motte-and-bailey with water defences, it stood near today’s Hallstraße between Aachener Straße and Brückenstraße. The site lay close to houses that formed the 13th-century settlement of Brie, later called Brye. Archaeologists have found traces of the moat and the central mound beneath later streets. The castle is important because it shows how local knights lived and held land. Records from 1247 to 1442 name several members of the Brie family as castellans and landowners. In 1287 the castle was destroyed by Rudolf of Habsburg’s troops, yet parts survived into the 17th century as a small old house in private hands. The family’s coat of arms, reconstructed by Otto von Alberti, resembles those of nearby lords, suggesting close ties. Today nothing remains above ground except the street name Bryestraße, which marks the spot. The area is now part of Bad Cannstatt’s Neckarvorstadt, a quiet quarter of modern houses and green spaces. Walk along Bryestraße and you stand where the motte once rose above the moat. The only visible clue is the old field name kept alive in street signs, linking the vanished fortress to the city’s past.