Burg Katzenstein

Burg Katzenstein stands on a hill 430.8 metres above the Jagst river, overlooking the Bächlinger hamlet of Hürden and the village of Nesselbach. It belongs to Bächlingen, a district of Langenburg in the Schwäbisch Hall district of Baden-Württemberg. The castle was a high medieval fortification built by the Lords of Katzenstein around 1500. Today nothing remains of the once formidable structure. The site lies within a quiet rural landscape of fields and wooded slopes. The Lords of Katzenstein once controlled this strategic point above the Jagst valley. Their name appears in local records from the late medieval period. By the 16th century the castle had lost its military importance and was left to decay. No detailed descriptions or illustrations of the original buildings survive. Archaeologists have found only scattered traces of walls and foundations. Visitors walk along farm tracks to the hilltop where the castle once stood. The view stretches across the rolling hills of Hohenlohe to the wooded ridges of the Swabian-Franconian Forest. Wildflowers grow among the ruins in spring and summer. The peaceful surroundings offer a place to sit and look out over the valley. The nearest village, Bächlingen, lies just below with its timber-framed houses and small church.