Schloss Hochberg

Schloss Hochberg stands on a hill above the Neckar valley in the town of Remseck. Originally built in the Middle Ages as a fortress, it became a Renaissance palace in the 16th century. The complex includes a four-storey gatehouse, a stone bridge over a dry moat, and a granary with a large vaulted cellar. The surrounding park still shows remains of the old ring walls and ditches. A separate wine-press building and an 18th-century Amtshaus complete the group. The castle was once home to the lords of Hochberg, then the Nothaft family who enlarged it under Heinrich Schickhardt. Later owners included the von Gemmingen and the dukes of Württemberg, who used it as a summer residence for hunting parties. The Hügel family kept it until 1936, after which it passed into private hands. The old wine-press now serves as a village hall, while the Amtshaus has been a Lutheran rectory since 1821. Visitors walk through the gatehouse into the inner courtyard. The park offers views across the Neckar valley and back to the palace. Inside the Amtshaus is a 19th-century wash-house and a brick-lined well. The granary’s cellar still shows the scale of the medieval storage. On the slope below the palace, the remains of the old vineyard terraces recall the estate’s wine-growing past.