Schloss Haigerloch

Schloss Haigerloch stands in the town of Haigerloch in the Zollernalbkreis of Baden-Württemberg. The site began as a castle mentioned in 1095, later rebuilt by the counts of Hohenberg in the 12th century. After passing to the Habsburgs and then to the counts of Zollern, it became the seat of a Hohenzollern line in 1576. Christoph von Hohenzollern-Haigerloch transformed the medieval fortress into a Renaissance palace under the direction of builder Michael Beer.

The palace’s church of St Trinitatis was designed as a family burial place and later lavishly refurbished in the 18th century by Prince Joseph Friedrich. The high altar, consecrated in 1609, is recognised as the most important Renaissance woodcarving in Hohenzollern, with more than sixty figures. Below the church, a rock chamber once housed a nuclear fission experiment in 1945, now home to the Atomkeller Museum.

Visitors walk through the Renaissance palace with its grand interiors and the Baroque church. The parish church of Haigerloch still occupies the former Schlosskirche. The surrounding town preserves the old castle hill and the Roman Tower site across the valley. A modern hotel and cultural centre operate within the palace grounds, linking historic architecture with present-day events.