The Küssaburg, Küssenberg or Küssaberg Castle (german: Burg Küssaberg) is a ruined hilltop castle located at an elevation of in Bechtersbohl, a village in the municipality of Küssaberg, 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 ''Chüssi'') which means "cushion", after the shape of the mountain on which it stands. 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 ...

is one of the most important historic buildings on the

High Rhine The High Rhine (german: Hochrhein) is the name used for the part of the Rhine that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel. The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper 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 The Prince-Bishopric of Constance, (german: Hochstift Konstanz, Fürstbistum Konstanz, Bistum Konstanz) was a small ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its secularisation in 1802–1803. In his d ...

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 The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

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 Klettgau (High Alemannic: ''Chleggau'') is a municipality in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the centre of the ''Klettgau'' historical region stretching across the Swiss border into the cantons of Aargau, Schaffhaus ...

, which runs east of the mountain, and the Rhine valley (High Rhine). In addition, there are views of the Southern

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

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