Burg Littstein

The Burg Littstein stands on a 760-metre rock above the Trailfinger Schlucht near Bad Urach in the Swabian Alb. Once called Hohenlittstein, it was built in the 13th century and already abandoned by 1396. The city of Urach and Baden-Württemberg once owned the site, but today only traces remain.

A curved neck ditch and the foundations of a 32-by-18-metre inner castle mark where the stronghold once rose. The ruins show how small the keep was, yet its position once commanded wide views over the surrounding valleys. Archaeologists recognise the layout as typical of early Swabian hill castles from that period.

Visitors walk a short path to the rock and see the shallow ditch cut into the stone. From the top there are sweeping views down into the Trailfinger Schlucht. The silence and the sheer drop give a sense of how the place once looked before it fell to ruin.