Hohenstaufen Castle (german: Burg Hohenstaufen) is a ruined castle in

Göppingen Göppingen (Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the bi ...

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 ...

. The

hill castle A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles a ...

was built in the 11th century, on a conical hill between the Rems and

Fils Fils or FILS may refer to: People * Anton Fils (1733–1760), German composer * Arthur Fils (born 2004), French tennis player * Pascal Fils (born 1984), Canadian football player Other uses * Fils (currency), a subdivision of currency used in ...

rivers (both tributaries of the Neckar) in what was then the Duchy of Swabia. It was the seat of the Staufer (Hohenstaufen) dynasty, the Dukes of Swabia for the period of 1079–1268, with three Holy Roman Emperors during 1155–1250. The castle was destroyed in the German Peasants' War of 1525. Hohenstaufen Castle can be found on Hohenstaufen Mountain, 684 m (2,244 ft) above sea level. The word ''Stauf'' means "drinking vessel" ( beaker or cup) and refers to the conical shape of the mountain.

Middle Ages

Hohenstaufen castle was built about 1070 by Frederick I of Hohenstaufen—even before he became Duke of Swabia—, as a fortress to protect family interests in the vicinity. Until the 13th century, the castle was a possession of the imperial and royal family, the Hohenstaufen dynasty. In 1181, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa stayed there; in 1208,

Irene Angelina Irene Angelina ( el, ; c. 1181 – 27 August 1208) was a Byzantine princess and member of the Angelos dynasty and by her two marriages Queen of Sicily in 1193 and Queen of Germany from 1198 to 1208. Life Irene was born in Constantinople, the ...

, the widow of Barbarossa's son, the recently murdered Philip of Swabia, died at Hohenstaufen Castle. After the fall of the Hohenstaufen in 1268, the castle was declared an imperial possession by the Habsburg king

Rudolf I of Germany Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum whic ...

. The strategically and symbolically important location was a constant bone of contention between the Counts of Württemberg and the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1372, Hohenstaufen Castle finally was in the hands of the Württemberg rulers. After the expulsion of Duke

Ulrich of Württemberg Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...

by the members of the

Swabian League The Swabian League (''Schwäbischer Bund'') was a mutual defence and peace keeping association of Imperial Estates – free Imperial cities, prelates, principalities and knights – principally in the territory of the early medieval stem duchy o ...

in 1519, one Georg Staufer of Bloßenstaufen successfully claimed the castle, as a descendant of the old Hohenstaufen dynasty. Therefore, only a small force defended the castle in 1525, when it was taken and destroyed by the peasants during the German Peasants' War. Stones from the castle were later used in the construction of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

Göppingen Castle.

Modern times

Since the

German unification The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

of 1871, Hohenstaufen Castle has been regarded as a national monument. The archaeologist Walther Veeck undertook excavations on it between 1936 and 1938, and further excavations were made between 1967 and 1971, uncovering and securing the castle foundations. A Hohenstaufen memorial stele (''Stauferstele'') was inaugurated in 2002. In 2009 additional work was done to preserve the site. It is also worth mentioning that in the beginning of 1943, the 9th Armored SS division received its title "Hohenstaufen" – because most Waffen-SS divisions' and regiments' official titles were based on renowned people, places or media with roots in Germanic history. The Staufer Museum, located at the intersection of Pfarrgasse and Kaiserbergsteige in Hohenstaufen, contains artifacts from and historical information about the site. The trail that leads to the castle site starts between the two churches that are adjacent to the Staufer Museum.

Gallery

Image:Hohenstaufen Castle Ruins.jpg, Hohenstaufen Castle Ruins Image:Hohenstaufen Castle Ruins_1.jpg, Hohenstaufen Castle Ruins Image:Hohenstaufen Castle Ruins_2.jpg, Hohenstaufen Castle Ruins Image:Staufer_Museum_Hohenstaufen.jpg, Staufer Museum in Hohenstaufen

References

{{Authority control Imperial castles Ruined castles in Germany