Wartenberg Schloß

Schloss Wartenberg stands on the Wartenberg hill in Baden-Württemberg’s Tuttlingen district. The site once held an upper castle belonging to the Lords of Wartenberg before it passed to the Fürstenberg family. In 1459 Count Heinrich IV of Fürstenberg rebuilt the fortress, which remained defensible around 1700 with a solid residential tower, moat and basalt curtain wall. The castle changed hands again in 1780 when Fürst Josef Wenzel granted it to Leopold von Lassolaye, who replaced the old ruins with a three-storey pleasure palace topped by a mansard roof. Prince Joseph Maria Benedikt later reclaimed the estate and laid out an English garden on the east slope, complete with statues, a temple and an hermitage. He also founded the Dreilärchen farm colony for seven settlers. By the early 19th century the estate had suffered plunder during the Napoleonic wars and the garden lay ruined. General Jean-Victor Moreau’s troops burned most buildings in Dreilärchen. Later, the lower floors housed an inn while the upper storey served as tenant quarters and part of the prince’s hunting lodge. Today the castle and garden remain private, yet the hilltop is protected landscape and the hermitage is cared for by the Schwarzwaldverein, which offers guided walks.