Altroßwag Castle Ruins

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Allemagne entière

Clinging to the steep slope above the first loop of the Enz, between Mühlhausen and Roßwag, a few wall fragments and excavation traces are all that remain of Altroßwag. This hilltop castle was built between 1126 and 1129 by the Gnaute, a lower-nobility family later known as the lords of Roßwag. Around 1300 the line split into two branches, one at Altroßwag and the other at Neuroßwag on the right bank. After the senior branch died out in the 14th century, Wolf and Jacob von Stein sold the castle in 1394 to Maulbronn Abbey, which made little use of it, and it soon fell into ruin. A legend links the site to the village's name: Heinrich Gnaute is said to have spurred his horse down the slope crying 'Roß wags'.