Schloss Ehrenfels

Schloss Ehrenfels stands on a wooded ridge above the Glastal and Werftal valleys near Hayingen in the Swabian Alb. It overlooks the Wimsener Höhle cave and the winding Hasenbach stream. The building began as a summer residence for the abbot of Zwiefalten monastery in the 1730s. A 66-metre cellar, cut from solid rock, once stored the monastery’s provisions. The abbot’s coat of arms still marks the entrance, and worn stone floors trace the route to the old monastic kitchen. The estate passed to Württemberg in 1803 and was given to Philipp Christian Friedrich Freiherr von Normann-Ehrenfels. Normann had doubled Württemberg’s territory in talks with Napoleon and helped secure the king’s crown. He turned the house into a noble seat, removed the altar, added a grand staircase to the Baroque park, and hung his family’s crests in the former monks’ rooms. For more than two centuries the building remained in the Normann-Ehrenfels family until a foundation took charge in 2015. Today the Schloss Ehrenfels Saint-André Foundation preserves the house and its grounds. The rooms display historic wood panels and coats of arms. Visitors can walk the terraced park laid out by Normann. About one kilometre away, the ruined Burg Ehrenfels recalls the 13th-century stronghold built by the Gundelfinger family. The abbey of Zwiefalten bought it in 1474, but by 1516 the monks had ordered its destruction to stop bandits using the ruin. Long-distance trails pass both sites, offering views across the Swabian Alb.