Burg Hohenerpfingen

Burg Hohenerpfingen stands on a rocky spur of the Kobelberg in the Swabian Alb, 785 metres above sea level. The Erpf valley drops steeply to the north and west, while the hill rises gently to the south. Only a deep rock-cut ditch and the tall, shield-like front wall of the old keep remain from the 12th-century castle. The site once belonged to the Erpfingen family of local nobles, who moved here from the older Stollenhof manor half a kilometre away. By the 14th century the castle passed through marriage to the Schenken of Andeck and then to the lords of Salmendingen. Conflicts with Württemberg led the Salmendingen heirs to sell the ruins in 1385. Visitors today walk the grassy ramparts and look down the sheer northern face. The ruined front wall rises above the rock platform, its masonry weathered by centuries. To the south-west the path crosses the old fishpond dam, where the pond once stretched towards Stetten.