Burg Reichenbach

The Burg Reichenbach, known locally as the Schlössle, once stood on a narrow ridge above the village of Reichenbach in the Ostalbkreis. It overlooks the small valley of the Reichenbach stream, a tributary of the Jagst, about 150 metres above the village at roughly 652 metres above sea level. The site lies just south of the A7 motorway, which passes within a kilometre as it climbs from the Jagst valley through the Agnesburg tunnel. A second ruined castle, the Agnesburg, once stood a little over a kilometre to the northwest on the same ridge. The castle first appears in records in 1240, when Heinrich von Reichenbach is listed as its owner in a monastery inventory. Further mentions follow in 1260 with Mödingen Abbey and in 1283 with Kaisheim Abbey. By 1354 no more written traces remain, and the Schlössle appears to have been abandoned around the same time as the Agnesburg. Local legend tells of a harsh lord at the Schlössle who exploited his people, only to be killed by them; the castle was then destroyed and its stones reused. Today the site shows low earthworks and scattered stone fragments across a roughly 35-by-45-metre area. A walk from Reichenbach village leads up through beech woods to the ridge, where the outline of the old walls can still be traced. The view stretches across the valley and up to the distant Agnesburg spur. The motorway’s presence is barely felt, leaving the ruins in quiet countryside.