Burg Hürben

Burg Hürben was a small medieval hilltop fortress in the village of Hürben, near Giengen on the Brenz river. It stood on a spur above the Hürbe valley at about 480 metres. The site now holds the village cemetery, ringed by a polygonal wall that may still be the old castle’s outer defences. The only visible remnant of the castle is a 24-metre stretch of wall beside the Hürbe spring. Its lower courses show large ashlar and bossed blocks, while higher up the core masonry is exposed. A 1591 map marks the castle chapel at the north-eastern end, close to where the gate once stood. After the castle was destroyed in 1449, the chapel survived as the village church until lightning struck it in the 18th century. The hill is crowned by the cemetery, and below it on a southern terrace stands a pretty little church built in 1738. A wide neck ditch once cut off the spur from the plateau behind; it was filled in around 1960. The village’s war memorial and the 1969 mortuary chapel are also part of the scene.