Burg Hohenfels

Burg Hohenfels rises above Sipplingen on a narrow ridge that drops steeply to the north-west. The spur on which it stands reaches 598 metres above sea level, just below the Haldenhof farm first recorded in 1441. The site commands wide views over the rolling countryside that leads down to Lake Constance. The ruins are reached by a short climb from the edge of the village. The path passes the old farm buildings before winding up through beech and pine woodland. The Hohenfels family, probably ministeriales of the bishops of Constance, built the castle between 1150 and 1190. Their most famous member was Burkhard, a cathedral canon who appears in a charter of 1191. The family later split; one branch moved to Neu-Hohenfels while the rest remained at Alt-Hohenfels. After the line died out, Wolf von Jungingen inherited the lordship, followed by the lords of Landenberg in 1437. In 1479 the hospital at Überlingen bought the castle and its vineyards. By the 17th century the fortress had been destroyed and left to decay. Today only fragments remain: sections of the enceinte wall and the foundations of a residential tower measuring roughly ten by thirteen metres. In 2009 volunteers cleared away young trees and shrubs, opening clear sightlines across the surviving stonework. The Minnesänger room at the Haldenhof farm recalls Burkart von Hohenfels, whose name also lives on in the ancient lime tree marked as a natural monument. From the crest of the ridge the panorama stretches over vineyards and distant water.