Burg Schmalegg

Burg Schmalegg stands on Schlossbüchl, a hill that rises 555 metres above sea level near the village of Schmalegg outside Ravensburg. Built in the 12th century by the Schenken of Schmalegg, a family of ministeriales serving the Welfs and later the Staufers, the castle was once the home of Ulrich von Winterstetten, a noted Minnesänger of the 13th century. In 1647, during the Thirty Years’ War, Swedish troops burned the stronghold, after which its stones were taken for other uses. By the 19th century only ruins of the gate tower and curtain wall remained, and these were dismantled to build the village church in 1862. The castle occupied a narrow spur that juts into a steep wooded valley called the Tobel. A lower courtyard of closely grouped farmsteads served as the outer ward, separated from the main castle by a drawbridge. Archaeologists have found traces of a chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas, showing the site was larger than a simple tower. A deep saddle in the hill now marks the former ditch that once defended the approach. The outer ward may also have had its own palisade cutting off the spur from the surrounding plateau. Today a simple cross, a wooden bench and several information boards recall the castle’s past. The cross was carved by the Herrgottschnitzer Riegel and set up in 1956, later renewed in 1981. Nearby, a rare wild orchid called the lady’s slipper grows on the hillside, protected by national conservation law. Each Fasnet season the local Narrenzunft Bettelspitz holds a children’s skittles tournament, reviving the legend that a golden set of skittles is hidden somewhere on the old site.