En un regard
Le château en bref
The Ziegelhöhlenburg is a medieval cave castle built into the limestone cliffs overlooking the Upper Danube valley, in the municipality of Fridingen an der Donau. This type of fortification, common on the Swabian Jura, makes use of a natural cavity: a façade wall closed the entrance of the cave, turning the hollow in the rock into a sheltered dwelling. The site comprises three neighbouring cavities. The main one, known as the Rear Cave, opens onto a ledge about four metres above the ground through a porch fifteen to eighteen metres wide; it was here that the fortified structure was concentrated, of which only faint remnants of the front wall survive. No written document mentions this castle: its dating rests on surface pottery sherds attributed to the first half of the twelfth century, and fragments of stove tiles suggest a lasting occupation. The cave, the Ziegelhöhle, is also a protected geotope. Access is free, by a narrow path that requires a sure footing.