Heidenburg

The Heidenburg stands in Mühlhausen, a historic district of Stuttgart. It is the last remnant of a medieval castle built by the Lords of Blankenstein in the 12th century. The castle chapel, later the Walpurgiskirche, was first recorded in 1275. Archaeologists found coins beneath the altar bearing the image of Pope Urban III, who reigned from 1185 to 1187. This suggests the castle was completed by the late 12th century. During the Reichskrieg of 1311–1312, the Esslingers attacked Mühlhausen and destroyed the castle. After the castle’s ruin in 1312, Heinrich von Kaltental gave the site to the church in 1488. The Walpurgiskirche was enlarged and became Protestant in 1567. In 1812, under the Palm family’s patronage, the church tower gained an octagonal upper section. Allied bombing on 15 April 1943 levelled the remaining structures. Today only parts of the supporting walls and a cellar survive, near the modern Walpurgishaus built in 1973. Visitors reach the site along Walpurgisstraße in Mühlhausen’s old centre. The surviving walls and cellar mark the castle’s former footprint. The adjacent Walpurgiskirche shows layers of its medieval and later history. The 1812 tower addition and the 1973 community centre frame the open grounds. The area remains freely accessible, linking past and present in a quiet corner of Stuttgart.