Neckarburg Ruin

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Neckarburg stands downstream of Rottweil, on an elongated hill almost entirely enclosed by a meander of the Neckar, at around 550 m above sea level, near Villingendorf. It is considered the oldest castle site in the Rottweil district: a deed of 793 mentions ‘Nehhepurc’, which the Alemannic count Berthold gave to St Gall Abbey before receiving it back as a fief. The visible remains, however, belong to later periods. In the 14th century, the site was divided between an outer castle, held by the lords of Neuneck, and a rear castle with a tower, held by the lords of Reute, under the overlordship of the counts of Sulz and Hohenberg. Heavily damaged in 1379 during a private war, the rear castle was no more than a Burgstall by 1387. Acquired in 1580 by the Spreter family of Rottweil, the site received a three-towered residence, which was abandoned during the Thirty Years’ War. In the 18th century, the Abbey of St Georgen in the Black Forest acquired the estate and renovated the St Michael’s Chapel and the farm; since 1836, the ruin and the estate have belonged to the Counts of Bissingen-Nippenburg. The curtain walls, remains of a moat and defensive works survive, set within a nature reserve, as does St Michael’s Chapel.