Schloß Neusteußlingen

Schloss Neusteußlingen stands on a spur above the Schmiechtal valley in the Alb-Donau-Kreis. It once belonged to Ennahofen in the Lutherische Berge region. In the early 1970s it was grouped with Talsteußlingen and Teuringshofen into the municipality of Hütten and later incorporated into Schelklingen. The site traces its origins to a 12th-century castle built around 1200. In 1581 Duke Ludwig of Württemberg ordered part of the old castle demolished and a new administrative palace erected slightly to the south. This Renaissance building served as the seat of the Herrschaft Steußlingen. The castle was the centre of the Steußlingen lordship under the Freiherren von Freyberg-Steußlingen until the line died out in 1581. After the fief reverted to Württemberg, the duchy created the Amt Steußlingen with the new palace as its administrative headquarters. The district included eight villages: Weilersteußlingen, Grötzingen, Ermelau, Ennahofen, Talsteußlingen, Teuringshofen and Sondernach. The Reformation was introduced here, giving the area its name Lutherische Berge. The palace remained in use until it was sold for demolition in 1812 and left as a ruin until the late 19th century. In 1897 the publisher Eugen Nübling from Ulm built a manor house on the ruins of the 16th-century palace and the medieval castle. The new building combined living quarters with a working farm and became his permanent home. Though privately owned and not open to visitors, the landscaped grounds still show the outlines of the earlier structures. Views from the spur look down into the Schmiechtal valley and across to the surrounding Lutherische Berge. The site preserves layers of medieval, Renaissance and 19th-century history in a quiet rural setting.