Burg bei Burgweiler

The Burg bei Burgweiler is the ruined remains of a medieval water castle east of Burgweiler, a district of Ostrach in the Sigmaringen district of Baden-Württemberg. It stands on a small rise in the upper Linzgau region, about 500 metres from the village. The site now sits at the edge of the Burgweiler-Pfrunger Ried nature reserve, with a nature trail car park below the hill.

The castle’s origins go back to the mid-11th century, when local nobles such as Wolvberadus, Edler von Wilare, are thought to have lived here. Written records from the early 13th century mention the Edlen von Gundelfingen, who expanded their scattered estates as far as Burgweiler with the help of ties to the Staufer emperors. By 1279 Conrad of Gundelfingen had to hand over his Ostrach-Burgweiler lands to Salem Abbey. The castle’s later history is unclear, but in the 17th century it became church property and remains so today.

Visitors reach the wooded mound by a short walk from the nature trail car park. The hilltop, once the site of a stone tower and ring wall, still shows the remains of a deep moat and outer banks. An information board explains the castle’s layout, its owners and the annual Burgfest festival held here. The flat surrounding marshland gives long views across the Ried, much as it did when a parish priest in the 18th century turned the hill into a pleasure garden with a stone gazebo.