The Küssaburg, Küssenberg or Küssaberg Castle (german: Burg Küssaberg) is a ruined

hilltop castle A hilltop castle is a type of hill castle that was built on the summit of a hill or mountain. In the latter case it may be termed a mountaintop castle. The term is derived from the German, ''Gipfelburg'', which is one of a number of terms used ...

located at an elevation of in Bechtersbohl, a village in the municipality of

Küssaberg Küssaberg is a municipality in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after ...

, in the county of Waldshut in the German state of

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 ...

. The name may be derived from the Roman personal name, ''Cossinius'', or from the German ''Kissen'' (

Alemannic Alemannic (''Alamannic'') or Alamanni may refer to: * Alemannic German, a dialect family in the Upper German branch of the German languages and its speakers * Alemanni, a confederation of Suebian Germanic tribes in the Roman period * Alamanni (surna ...

''Chüssi'') which means "cushion", after the shape of the mountain on which it stands. The hill castle is one of the most important historic buildings on the High Rhine and a landmark of the county of Waldshut. It was probably constructed between 1125 and 1141. The present ruins were owned ''inter alia'' by the counts of Küssenberg, the Bishopric of Constance and the counts of Sulz. The castle, which was later developed into a fortress, was destroyed by a fire started by its garrison on 8 March 1634 when the Swedish Army approached it during the Thirty Years' War and by a landslide on 25 December 1664. In the 19th century work began on uncovering the ruins which have since become a popular destination in the region.

Location

The ruins lie above the village at an elevation of about 634 metres above sea level. They are a landmark in this region and overlook the Klettgau, which runs east of the mountain, and the Rhine valley (High Rhine). In addition, there are views of the Southern Black Forest and the Aargau in Switzerland.

Literature

* Andreas Weiß, Christian Ruch: ''Die Küssaburg''. Herausgegeben vom Küssaburg-Bund e.V., o. O. 2009. * Robert Feger: ''Burgen und Schlösser in Südbaden. Eine Auswahl''. Weidlich, Würzburg, 1984, . * Norbert Nothhelfer (ed.): ''Der Kreis Waldshut''. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart/Aalen, 1975, . * ''Küssaberg im Landkreis Waldshut''. Gemeinde Küssaberg. * ''Lauchringen'', 1985. * Arthur Hauptmann: ''Burgen einst und jetzt - Burgen und Burgruinen in Südbaden und angrenzenden Gebieten''. Verlag Südkurier, Konstanz, 1984, , pp. 259–263. * Heinz Voellner: ''Die Burgen und Schlösser zwischen Wutachschlucht und Hochrhein'', 1979. * Bender, Knappe, Wilke: ''Burgen im südlichen Baden''. 1979, . * Franz Xaver Kraus: ''Die Kunstdenkmäler des Großherzogthums Baden'', Freiburg im Breisgau, 1892, Vol. III - Kreis Waldshut; pp. 133-14
online
* Christian Roder: ''Die Schloßkaplanei Küssenberg und die St. Annenkapelle zu Dangstetten''. In: Freiburger Diözesan Archiv * Emil Müller-Ettikon, ''Kurzer Überblick über die Geschichte Küssabergs'', Gemeinde Küssaberg (publ.), 1986.

References

External links

Official Internet site

Küssaburg Guide at Küssaburg.com

Artist's impression
by Wolfgang Braun * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kussaburg Ruined castles in Germany