Burgstelle Mansberg

The Burgstelle Mansberg stands two kilometres west of Dettingen unter Teck on the wooded ridge between the Lauter and Tiefenbach valleys. The site lies in the Hagacker woodland, close to the Rauhen Wiesen and the Öhmdbach stream. A steep-sided ravine called the Mansberger Graben drops ten to fifteen metres on the northern side, marking the edge of the old stronghold. First mentioned in 1287, the castle was built by the Lords of Mansberg and later held by ministeriales. By 1450 it had already fallen into ruin. Nearby a small hamlet grew up in the Middle Ages, surviving until it was abandoned during the Thirty Years’ War. The main stronghold measures twenty-five by fifteen metres and is set apart by a ditch six to eight metres wide and three to five metres deep. A similar ditch and rampart enclose the western bailey, which may once have held a collapsed cellar. Further outer earthworks run south and west across the plateau. Beyond the bailey lie traces of the probable farmyard zone where the castle’s household once worked the land.