Buttenhausen Castle ruins

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Allemagne entière

Above the village of Buttenhausen, in the Great Lauter valley on the Swabian Jura, the remains of the old castle now blend into the cemetery that overlooks St Michael's church. Locals called it the "old castle on the hill", as opposed to the manor house built later in the village. It was a spur castle standing at about 665 metres, whose documented history begins in 1389, when the knight Friedrich III of Gundelfingen sold the advocacy of Buttenhausen to the provost of Güterstein monastery near Urach. The site then passed to the lords of Stein and, in 1569, to the Gemmingen family. Abandoned in the 19th century, only the polygonal curtain wall survives, reinforced by numerous buttresses and still some five metres high on the valley side: these walls now enclose the cemetery. A discreet yet evocative stop for anyone exploring the Lauter valley, so rich in castle ruins.