Burg Klingenstein

Burg Klingenstein stands above the village of Klingenstein on a hilltop at 559 metres. It began as a single stronghold in the 11th century, built by the Lords of Stain. By the 13th century three separate enclosures had been added: the Upper, Middle and Lower Castles. The Upper Castle once held a keep, chapel and great hall, but only its foundations remain today. The Middle Castle, built in the 13th and 14th centuries, still shows part of its wall-walk and a round tower that survives almost intact. The Lower Castle’s cellars were later used for the present Schloss Klingenstein. The Leube Foundation has cared for the ruins since 1974, and in 2015 the German Foundation for Monument Protection helped repair the round tower’s masonry. Visitors can walk among the grass-grown outlines of the Upper Castle’s keep and hall. The Middle Castle’s wall-walk offers views over the valley, and the round tower stands close by. The Lower Castle’s cellars lie beneath the modern Schloss, linking past and present. On special days the ruins open to the public, revealing centuries of stonework and the quiet strength of a medieval hilltop fortress.