Ravenstein Castle remains (Burgrest Ravenstein)

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Landkreis Göppingen

North-west of Steinenkirch, in the municipality of Böhmenkirch, the remains of Ravenstein Castle crown a rocky spur of the Swabian Jura at an altitude of about 610 metres. The fortress dates back to the second half of the 11th century: a Herbort of Ravenstein appears in a charter of 1091, and the high-noble line of Ravenstein-Stubersheim, which also held seats at Stubersheim and Neckartenzlingen, is attested in those same years. Built of stone, the castle rose over three levels; two ditches cut into the rock protected it to the south and east, and a cistern hewn into the rock survives in the northern corner. Around 1393 the Zillenhart, a family of lesser nobility, were attacked and plundered there. Remodelled in the 16th and 17th centuries, the building was almost entirely demolished in 1765; the outer bailey, on the site of the present Jägerhaus, was rebuilt in the 19th century. Today, rubble and sections of wall lie hidden beneath old beech trees, at a site popular with climbers.