Buchenbach Castle

Burg Buchenbach stands above the village of Buchenbach in Mulfingen, a stone tower on a low spur where the Buchenbach stream meets the Jagst valley. The site commands views over the water meadows and the road bridge downstream. A church sits on the opposite slope, reached by a steep path that climbs to the Hohenloher plain.

Built in the 11th century by the lords of Buchenbach, the fortress passed through the hands of the Stettens and Bächlingens before the counts of Hohenlohe took control in the 15th century. The last Bächlingen sold his share in 1403, yet Hohenlohe sold the whole place in 1418 to Zürch von Stetten. After centuries in private hands, Sigurd von Stetten restored the ruins in 1974 and later sold it to Klaus Utz of Stuttgart.

The rectangular keep rises four storeys on a thirteen-by-twenty-metre base with walls nearly a metre thick. A tall timber-framed gable gives distant views across the Jagst valley, while a smaller square tower marks the north-west corner. The 15th-century alterations remain clearly visible today.