En un regard
Le château en bref
The ruin of Heilsberg (also spelt Heilsperg) occupies the wooded summit of the Heilsberg, at an elevation of about 545 m, above Gottmadingen in the Hegau (Landkreis Konstanz), not far from the Swiss border. This hilltop castle was probably built in the second half of the 13th century; it is first mentioned in 1303. In 1310 it belonged to the lords of Randegg, who made it the centre of a small lordship that included, among other places, the neighbouring village of Riedheim. The history of the site is marked by a succession of destructions and rebuildings: it was in ruins in 1499, was restored under the lords of Schellenberg, mentioned in 1518, then was destroyed again in 1525 during the German Peasants' War. Once more restored, it was finally annihilated in 1635, during the Thirty Years' War, by Konrad Widerholt, commander of the nearby fortress of the Hohentwiel. It was never rebuilt. Today only a few dilapidated stretches of wall remain, hidden in the forest, which still make it possible to reconstruct a residential building of about 7 by 12 m. The site is accessible on foot by the forest paths that climb from Gottmadingen.