Burg Schorren

Burg Schorren is an abandoned cave castle set in the Schorren cliffs above the Emstal valley south of Bad Urach. The cliffs rise steeply from the western valley slope to a height of 680 metres. The site is also called Venedigerloch or Schorrenhöhle, names tied to legends of the Veneter dwarves and the steep rock itself. Excavations show the fortification was built between 1100 and 1150 and abandoned early in the 14th century. Artefacts such as an arbalest bolt tip and a fragment of a clay guard-horn suggest it served as a defensive post. A single written record from 1402 mentions a farm called ‘ze Suntheim, heißet Schorren’, possibly the former estate of the castle. The cave entrance is a broad portal measuring 4.7 by 6 metres, reached after climbing a four-metre rock step. Inside, a column of rock splits the passage into two arms. On the left lies a hall rising seven metres, lit by a narrow shaft. Two metres above the floor, regularly spaced beam holes mark a second storey. The right arm narrows quickly and becomes impassable. The whole site remains protected and closed to the public.