Wasserburg Grüningen

The Wasserburg Grüningen stands in the town of Riedlingen, part of the Biberach district in Baden-Württemberg. It was a small motte-and-bailey castle built by the noble lords of Grüningen on an artificial mound surrounded by a moat. By 1780 the mound still held an octagonal summerhouse, but today nothing remains of the old fort. Historians recognise the site as an example of a once-common type of medieval fortification. The lords of Grüningen were a local noble family who built the castle to control the area around their lands. The mound and moat were carefully shaped to keep the building safe from attack. Visitors can still see the round mound and the outline of the old moat in the garden behind the Upper Castle. The spot offers a quiet view of the surrounding countryside and a sense of how the castle once looked. Nearby stands the Upper Castle, a later building that now dominates the skyline. The remains of the motte are small but give a clear picture of medieval building methods.