Burg Veringen

Burg Veringen stands above Veringenstadt on a ridge 675 metres high, encircled by the Lauchert river. The ruins mark the site of a spur castle built between 1100 and 1130 by Count Marquard of the Veringen family. In the 12th century the castle was a simple wooden structure with a tower, timber buildings and a palisade. Around 1200 it was rebuilt in ashlar masonry, adding a large residential tower with walls three to three and a half metres thick. The counts of Württemberg acquired the castle in 1344, and in 1464 Hans von Werdenberg carried out repairs. The oldest part of the site is the late Romanesque Peterskapelle, dating from the 10th or 11th century. Its rectangular nave and semicircular apse predate the castle itself, and it later served as the castle chapel. The main tower grew to fifteen by sixteen metres, heated rooms inside showing its role as a noble residence. After 1633 the lower ‘palace’ was damaged by Swedish troops, and the upper castle fell into ruin. From 1978 to 1983 conservation work stabilised the remains so visitors can walk among them today. Visitors follow paths up the ridge to the scattered stone walls and the base of the great tower. The Peterskapelle still stands intact, its simple stonework contrasting with the later fortifications. From the ridge there are views across the Lauchert valley to Veringenstadt and the surrounding Alb plateau. The castle’s two building phases can be traced in the masonry, while the chapel offers a quiet space apart from the exposed ramparts. The site is open and uncrowded, letting the landscape and the stones tell their own story.