Oberes Schloss

The Obere Schloss stands in the centre of Immendingen, a small town in the Regierungsbezirk Freiburg. Its oldest part dates from the 12th century, when it was a water-filled fortress with corner towers and a courtyard. The square building measures roughly thirty-three by twenty-seven metres, and its moats have long since been filled in. For more than a century the castle belonged to the Lords of Almenshofen, who held it until 1531. In 1807 the Princes of Fürstenberg bought it and, in 1835, installed Baden’s first machine factory inside its walls. A large wooden wheel driven by the nearby Weisenbach turned the machinery that made wheels, sawmills and grinding mills. After production moved to the Unteres Schloss in 1889, the building served as housing, including for refugees, until the town bought it in the 1930s. After thorough repairs between 1961 and 1963 the castle became the town hall. Every first weekend of September the community and local clubs hold the Immendinger Schlossfest around the square and in the surrounding streets. The castle’s four round towers mark its corners, and its central courtyard remains open to visitors during the festival.