Stöffeln Castle Ruins

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Landkreis Reutlingen

On the Stöffelberg, a wooded height of the Swabian Jura overlooking Gönningen, now a district of Reutlingen, lie the scant remains of Stöffeln Castle. First mentioned in 1056 as Stofola, it ranks among the oldest fortresses of the Swabian Alb. Its lords, linked by historians either to the counts of Achalm or to the lords of Husen who settled here around 1090-1100, were among the influential noble families of the region. Around 1250 they founded the town of Gönningen at the foot of the hill, before their power waned in the face of Württemberg's expansion: in 1300 and again in 1317, several branches of the family ceded their rights to the count. The medieval poet Konrad von Stoffeln, presumed author of the Arthurian romance Gauriel von Muntabel, is thought to have come from this lineage. Little masonry survives on site, but an information board recalls the size of the former castle and a bench offers a wide view over Gönningen. The site can be reached on foot via waymarked trails from the Gönningen lakes.