Lichtenstein Castle

Lichtenstein Castle stands on a steep escarpment 817 metres above sea level in the Swabian Jura, overlooking the Echaz valley near Honau. Its name means ‘shining stone’, taken from the medieval predecessor that once crowned the same rock. The present Gothic Revival castle was built between 1840 and 1842 for Duke Wilhelm von Urach, who wanted a medieval home for his collection of arms and armour. The design by Carl Alexander Heideloff reused the 14th-century foundations and added a curtain wall, courtyard and outer bailey with corner bastions. Inside, the great hall displays the Habsburg coat of arms and works by Michael Wolgemut. The castle’s medieval predecessor had been destroyed twice, first in 1311 and again between 1377 and 1381 by the citizens of Reutlingen.

The castle’s story begins around 1100 when ministerials of the counts of Württemberg built a fortress here. It became a stronghold of the lords of Lichtenstein, who quarrelled with the Free Imperial City of Reutlingen and were repeatedly attacked. After the Thirty Years’ War the Habsburgs took control, and in 1802 King Frederick I of Württemberg dismantled the ruins to build a hunting lodge. The modern castle owes its existence to Wilhelm Hauff’s 1826 novel Lichtenstein, which inspired Duke Wilhelm to purchase the site in 1837. Construction was managed by Johann Georg Rupp and decorated by Georg Eberlein, who added altarpieces by the Master of Lichtenstein.

Visitors walk through the barbican and across the outer bailey to reach the main gate. Inside the courtyard the three-storey main building houses the great hall with its painted ceiling and medieval artworks. The castle’s walls and roof were restored after war damage, with further work in 1980, 1998 and 2002. Beyond the curtain wall a path leads to the ruins of the medieval Burg Alt-Lichtenstein half a kilometre away. The view stretches across the Swabian Jura to the Echaz valley below, where the river winds through wooded hills.