Burgstall Eselsburg (Michelbach am Wald)

The Eselsburg, also called Burg Alte Gabel, stands on the Gabel, a rocky spur 460 metres above sea level. It overlooks the Michelbachtal near Michelbach am Wald in the Hohenlohekreis of Baden-Württemberg. The site was once a watch station with a tower that guarded the valley below. No records survive of who built it or when it was occupied. Archaeologists have found a square hole about five metres across where a building once stood. Mortar, brick fragments and shaped foundation stones lie scattered around the site. Burnt wattle and daub from a timber-framed building shows the place was destroyed by fire long ago. Visitors reach the spur along a quiet woodland path. At the top, the remains of walls and the central hollow mark the former tower’s position. The view stretches across the valley and the surrounding countryside. Wild flowers grow among the stones in summer. The silence and the scattered ruins give a sense of the watch that once kept the valley safe.