Fürstenberg Castle (Hüfingen)

Fürstenberg Castle (german: Burg Fürstenberg or simply ''Fürstenberg'', literally "Prince's Hill") is a castle in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is located on the ''Fürstenberg'' hill in the Baar region, near the town of

Hüfingen Hüfingen (Low Alemannic: ''Hifinge'') is a town in the district of Schwarzwald-Baar, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Breg, 4 km south of the source of the Danube. History Hüfingen has the historical distinct ...

. The castle was first mentioned in a deed of 1175 as a possession of the

House of Zähringen The House of Zähringen (german: Zähringer) was a dynasty of Swabian nobility. The family's name derived from Zähringen Castle near Freiburg im Breisgau. The Zähringer in the 12th century used the title of Duke of Zähringen, in compensation ...

, which became extinct with the death of Duke

Berthold V Berthold or Berchtold is a Germanic given name and surname. It is derived from two elements, ''berht'' meaning "bright" and ''wald'' meaning "(to) rule". It may refer to: *Bertholdt Hoover, a fictional character in the anime/manga series ''Attack o ...

. Around 1250, his heir Count Henry of Urach made it his residence and thereafter was the first to call himself a Count of Fürstenberg. The castle was devastated in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, and it was never rebuilt. Fürstenberg family residences {{BadenWürttemberg-struct-stub