Burg Pfälen

The Burg Pfälen once stood in the gentle Elsachtal valley near Bad Urach, where the Kaltental stream meets the river. Built by the Lords of Pfälen, it appears in records from 1398 when a Heinrich Pfäler is named. By the early 19th century the town of Bad Urach owned the site, and in 1832 the old walls were taken down. A farmhouse called the Pfählhof now occupies the spot where the castle once rose above the valley floor. Historians recognise the site as an example of a lowland castle from the late medieval period. The Lords of Pfälen controlled the surrounding land and the road along the Elsach, giving them both income and influence. After the castle vanished, the valley remained a quiet farming landscape, little changed in character. Only the name Pfälen and the later farmhouse keep the memory of the fortress alive. Visitors walk a quiet country lane that passes the Pfählhof and crosses the Elsach. The fields and meadows stretch away on either side, framed by gentle hills. The castle mound itself is levelled and covered by grass, but the setting still shows why the site was chosen. From the lane there are views across the valley towards the wooded slopes of the Swabian Alb.