Burg Triberg

Burg Triberg stands as a ruined spur castle on a rocky outcrop high above the town of Triberg in the Black Forest. The Gutach river flows below, where the town first grew in the 1300s. Its origins remain uncertain; the first written mention of Triberg appears in 1239, when Peter von Triberc witnessed a deed for Count Berthold of Neuenburg. The lords of Hornberg held the castle until the Triberg line died out, after which it passed to the counts of Hohenberg. In 1355 the Habsburgs bought the lordship and kept it until 1654. The castle changed hands many times through pledges to the margraves of Baden, the counts of Fürstenberg, Ulrich Zasius and Lazarus von Schwendi. Fire destroyed it in 1489 and again in 1525 during the Peasants’ War, when local farmers set it ablaze. After each fire it was rebuilt by forced labour. In 1616 and again at Christmas 1642, during the Thirty Years’ War, Swedish troops finished off the remaining walls. Excavations in 1934 uncovered the old ground plan and a single pillar, now displayed in the Burggarten near the Kurhaus. Today only scant ruins remain, but the site offers quiet walks among moss-covered stones and a view over the valley. The Kurhaus and its park sit just below the hill, linking the castle’s past with the town’s spa life. Visitors follow paths that wind past the exposed foundations and the single standing pillar. From the hilltop the whole of Triberg unfolds below, its waterfalls and timber houses framed by dark forest. The contrast between the ruined fortress and the lively town below makes the place memorable.