En un regard
Le château en bref
The ruin of Benzenberg, also called Benzenburg, lies north of the village of Rohrdorf, a district of Meßkirch, in the Sigmaringen district. The castle occupied a steep spur facing west, at about 670 metres above sea level, at a site known as "Altes Schloss". It was the seat of the Counts of Rohrdorf, a family of high nobility with holdings in the Hegau, the Linzgau and Upper Swabia, counted among the first lords of Meßkirch. The pottery recovered on the site makes this one of the oldest castles in the region between the Swabian Jura and Lake Constance. After the extinction of the counts around 1210, the site passed to other noble houses, then lost its role once seigneurial power became established at Meßkirch. Around 1400 it was in ruins, and its stones were reused for the town's castle. The castle plateau, measuring roughly 65 × 20 metres, was isolated by a broad dry ditch; this ditch, a mound of rubble and a southern retaining wall about 25 metres long survive. The site, located in the Upper Danube Nature Park, was laid out in 2005 with information boards.