Schloss Klingenstein

Schloss Klingenstein stands on a rocky spur 553 metres above sea level in the Blautal valley near Blaustein. It was built in 1756 by Freiherr Franz Maria Anton von Bernhausen on the foundations and old cellar vaults of the earlier North Castle. The Bernhausen family had moved their main seat to nearby Oberherrlingen in 1588. Over the centuries the building changed hands several times, passing to Bavaria in 1803 before being bought in 1860 by Gustav Ernst Leube, a pharmacist from Ulm. The Leube family used the small castle as a summer residence and later the Leube-Stiftung took responsibility for its upkeep. The complex today includes the inhabited main building, a chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity and the castle courtyard. South of the courtyard stands the former forester’s house, built in the old neck ditch of the medieval fortress. Traces of the original castle walls survive to the south and west, and visitors can walk among these remains. Inside, fragments of rococo stucco decoration remain on the ceilings, the staircase and within the chapel. The chapel’s altarpiece was painted by Johann Baptist Enderle from Söflingen. The Friends of Schloss Klingenstein association organises events and the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz funded repairs to the ruined shell tower in 2015. The site offers views across the valley and a quiet place to explore the layers of its long history.