Wigoldesberg Castle (Burg Wigoldesberg)

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Landkreis Karlsruhe

In the heart of the Großer Wald, between Sinsheim and Odenheim, the Greifenberg (271 m), about 1.2 km north-west of Eichelberg in the municipality of Östringen, bears the earthworks of the former Wigoldesberg Castle. It is a large motte built on the summit of a Keuper sandstone spur, on the historic boundary between the Elsenzgau and the Kraichgau. Probably raised in the late 10th or the 11th century by a Salian count such as Otto of Worms or by the related Zeisolf-Wolfram family, it later passed to the counts of Lauffen. In the early 12th century they established a monastic community there, which was moved before 1137-1138 to the neighbouring valley, the origin of Odenheim Abbey, while their administration moved to Bretten. The plateau, about 78 m long and 21 m wide, rises 7 m; ditches and ramparts are clearly visible to the west and east. The buildings were probably of timber and no walls survive. Never excavated, the site lies within a nature reserve created in 1975.