Burg Frauenberg

The Frauenberg ruins stand on a hill above the old village of Feuerbach in Stuttgart. Built in the early 13th century, the small castle once controlled the busy trade route between Hohenneuffen and Asperg. Its central tower reached about twenty metres and its walls were between three and 3.8 metres thick. By the late 14th century seven families shared ownership, turning it into a joint inheritance castle. By the start of the 16th century the buildings had been dismantled and used as a stone quarry, mainly for Stuttgart’s city wall. The castle first appears in records on 1 July 1251, though stonecutter marks suggest it was begun between 1220 and 1250 in the Staufer period. Wolfram von Frauenberg is the first known lord. His simple red-and-silver shield later became the coat of arms of Feuerbach until 1933. The lords also held Botnang, Zazenhausen and lands in Ditzingen. In the late Middle Ages the estate passed to female cadet lines such as the Helmstatt and Winterstetten families. Today only the lower part of the tower survives, secured in 1973 and surrounded by a small enclosure. The remains can be seen at the turning point of An der Burg street. The site offers a quiet view over the Feuerbach valley and a reminder of the castle’s past as both a stronghold and a prison.