Bebenhausen Abbey, also known as Bebenhausen Monastery and Palace, was a Cistercian monastery located in the village of Bebenhausen (now a district of Tübingen), in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was built by Rudolph I, Count Palatine of Tübingen, probably in 1183.

After the Reformation the abbey buildings were used at various times as a school, a 19th-century hunting palace for the kings of Württemberg, and the legislative assembly of the State of Württemberg-Hohenzollern.

Today the buildings are owned by the State Heritage Agency of Baden-Württemberg (Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten) and are open for tour as a museum. The site includes the church, main monastery building, abbot’s residence, guesthouse, infirmary, summer refectory, and the 19th-century Bebenhausen Palace.



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Waldenbuch Castle (German: Schloss Waldenbuch) was a hunting lodge used by the dukes of Württemberg, and was first mentioned in 1381. The core of the structure was once an old castle.

Schloss Waldenbuch

Achalm Castle is a ruined castle located above the towns of Reutlingen and Pfullingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Situated on the top of a hill at the edge of the Swabian Alb the ruins of the 11th-century castle are topped by a look-out tower from 1838.

Achalm Castle was built around 1030 by Gaugraf Egino and Rudolf of Achalm. The name Achalm appears to refer to a nearby stream, the Ach which comes from the River Alm. According to legend, the name of the castle comes from another source. As the castle was under construction two workers began to fight. Egino separated the two and locked one of them in the castle dungeon. The prisoner soon escaped and when he saw Egino, stabbed him. As he lay dying, his last words were Ach Alm meaning to say Ach Allmächtiger (English: Oh! Almighty (God)). His brother, thinking he was honoring his last words named the castle Achalm.

The castle was expanded in the 11th Century with a second tower. However the von Achalm family died out shortly thereafter. The castle passed through several owners including the House of Welf. In 1234 the son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, King Henry VII, rebelled against his father, the Emperor. The owner of Castle Achalm, Heinrich of Neuffen, sided with the rebellious King Henry VII. Following the Emperor's victory over his son Henry VII, Castle Achalm became the personal property of the Emperor's family, the House of Hohenstaufen. Castle Achalm remained a Hohenstaufen property for a time. The castle then passed into the control of the House of Württemberg. In 1377 Graf or Count Ulrich of Württemberg marched from the castle to attack the town of Reutlingen. While he besieged the city, troops from the Swabian Cities League marched to defend the city. Ulrich's troops were defeated and Reutlingen remained a Free Imperial City.

Over the following centuries, the castle began to lose its military value and began to collapse. During the later years of the Thirty Years' War, in 1650, the castle was partially destroyed to prevent enemy forces from using the castle for shelter. Later the stones were removed to build houses in the village. In 1822 the future king and emperor William I had a stone look-out tower built on the foundation of the old tower. The tower was repaired and renovated in 1932 to prevent it from collapsing.

Achalm Castle

Schloss Hohenheim is a castle located in the Hohenheim district of Stuttgart. The castle was constructed by order of Duke Carl Eugen and designed by Reinhard Heinrich Ferdinand Fischer from 1772 to 1793 for his future wife, Franziska von Hohenheim. Today, the castle grounds are home to the University of Hohenheim and is surrounded by Hohenheim Gardens.

The first mentioning of Hohenheim (albeit under the name "Hohenach") occurred in 1100 by Egilof of Hohenach when Hirsau Abbey donated some land to the castle. Over the centuries, the castle repeatedly changed owners until falling into possession of Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg in 1768.

Duke Charles initially constructed a small moated castle, but later turned it into a summer home in 1776. Later that same year, the Duke announced that he was planning a "Full English Dörfle," which wound up becoming a full sized Rococo manor. The gardens around the castle were also planned at this time. They featured pillars depicting the Roman gods Jupiter (god) and a playhouse now used as a museum by the University of Hohenheim. The gardens continued to be maintained and many exotic plants were added. The Duke commissioned an extensive residential palace to be built on the grounds of Hohenheim in 1782 until construction halted in 1793 due to the Duke's death at Hohenheim.

Only about 20 years later did the castle regain a greater significance when King Wilhelm I of Württemberg and his wife Catherine founded the Agricultural Educational Testing and Model Institution, which was housed in a separate building on the castle and the Paracelsus School was housed in the east wing much later.

During World War II, a wing of the castle was destroyed, but was rebuilt (at least the exterior of the wing). In the 1970s, the castle was restored and modernized and the rococo plaster removed. The 1990s saw the return of this plaster to lock once again.

Today, the University of Hohenheim uses large portions of the castle grounds. The Horticulture and Agriculture Departments of the University have been found on the castle grounds since 1818. The Kavaliersbau German: Squire's lodge, the University of Hohenheim established a canteen in 1918 that was converted into a restaurant in 1958.

The castle grounds were once home to the manor house Paracelsus prior to the castle's construction.
The old Neogothic church on the island was firebombed during 1944 and is closed to the public.
Friedrich Schiller visited and described the park of Schloss Hohenheim like so: "The nature that we find in the English system is no longer that which we had expected. It is inspired by the spirit and exalted by Art and Nature"

Hohenheim Castle

Lichtenstein Castle (Schloss Lichtenstein) is a privately owned tourist attraction built in Gothic Revival style and located in the Swabian Jura of southern Germany. It was designed by Carl Alexander Heideloff and has been described as the "fairy tale castle of Württemberg." It overlooks the Echaz valley near Honau, Reutlingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The modern castle was inspired by the novel Lichtenstein (1826) by Wilhelm Hauff and was built in 1840-1842. The ruins of the medieval castle that inspired the novel are a few hundred meters away. The name Lichtenstein translates as "shining stone."

The castle is located on an escarpment that marks the northwestern edge of the Swabian Jura. It is in the Reutlingen district and has an altitude of 817 metres (2,680 feet). and about 250 metres (820 feet) above the Echaz river, a small tributary of the Neckar river. The ruins of Lichtenstein Castle's medieval predecessor, the Burg Alt-Lichtenstein, lies 500 metres (1,600 feet) away.

Beginning around 1100, a castle belonging to a family of ministerials of the counts of Achalm and later counts of Württemberg, was located on the escarpment above the source of the river Echaz. The castle and its denizens, the lords of Lichtenstein, were not friendly with the Free Imperial City of Reutlingen and were thus under frequent attack. The old castle was destroyed twice, once during the imperial civil war of 1311 and again by the citizens of Reutlingen sometime between 1377 and 1381. A new castle was built in 1390 some 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the ruins of the old one. The site selected was the same as that of the current structure. It was one of the most impressive fortifications of the Late Middle Ages. Despite such features as early casemates that made it nearly unassailable, the castle ceased to be the ducal seat in 1567 and fell into disrepair. During the Thirty Years' War (1618–48), it was taken over by the Tyrolean line of the Habsburgs following the death of the last member of the Lichtenstein family in 1687 during the Great Turkish War. The coat of arms of their family, a pair of golden angel wings on a blue background, is still displayed in the Great Hall of the castle.

In 1802, King Frederick I of Württemberg came into possession of the castle, dismantled it to its foundations and replaced it with a hunting lodge.

As a consequence of 19th-century Romanticism, medieval virtues like chivalry became increasingly popular among the elites. Parallel to this, medieval architecture, primarily Gothic style, returned to public attention in Germany with the unfinished Cologne Cathedral, leading to the rise of Gothic Revival architecture. Other notable examples of this romantic infatuation with medieval structures and architecture are the Votive Cathedral of Vienna and Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. This nostalgic longing for the medieval past, spurred on by the works of authors such as Hugh Walpole, Sir Walter Scott, and John Ruskin, meant that architectural had once again turned from the Classical to the Gothic style of architecture.

In 1826, German poet and patriot Wilhelm Hauff published his book Lichtenstein, in which the castle, the book's namesake, played a major role. Hauff's novel was inspired by the historical romances of Walter Scott, some of which Hauff reviewed and wrote a parody about. King Frederick's cousin, Count (later Duke) Wilhelm von Urach, a German patriot, who was very interested in medieval history, art, and architecture, was so inspired by the book that he purchased the estate — at that time merely another crumbling ruin in the Swabian Jura — from the king in 1837, after negotiations for the purchase with the resident groundskeeper Philipp Freiherr von Hügel and his successor.

Desiring an accurate emulation of a medieval castle to live in and house his substantial collection of medieval arts, arms, and armour, Wilhelm recruited architect and restorationist Carl Alexander Heideloff after turning down designs by Württemberg court painter Franz Seraph Stirnbrand and Christian Wilhelm von Faber du Faur - designs that differed substantially from today's structure. Construction of the New Lichtenstein Castle began in 1840 and was managed by Johann Georg Rupp (de). This structure, its design heavily influenced by Count Wilhelm, used the ancient foundations of the castle of 1390, and stood up to three stories tall, with a curtain wall and courtyard to complete the castle complex. A barbican and a sprawling outer bailey, complete with corner bastions and turrets, was constructed in 1857.

Following this, the castle was then decorated within and without by Nuremberg painter and architect Georg Eberlein (de). The most important works in the castle are "Death of the Virgin Mary" by Michael Wolgemut and two altar panels by an unknown Austrian artist called the "Master of Lichtenstein."

The castle was completed in 1842, and the king was present for its inauguration ceremony. In 1869, it became the official residence of the dukes of Urach.

After the Revolution of 1848, then-Count Wilhelm became the first duke of Urach. A passionate artillery officer, he desired to improve the defenses of his castle and so began to build pre-outwork caponiers in the style of the imperial Fortress of Ulm (though not on a scale as grand) and a trench along the fortress to deter attack. Later he had cannons placed in the bastions on the walls. From 1898 to 1901 the two buildings left of the main gate, the Ducal Palace and the old groundskeepers house, were constructed and expanded respectively. A motion to build a cableway up to the castle in 1911 was rejected because it was believed it would ruin the beauty of the castle.

The castle was damaged during World War II, but efforts to restore the castle began in the immediate aftermath of the war. Once again, and thanks to local non-profit organizations like the Wüstenrot Foundation and Community Fund for the Preservation of Lichtenstein Castle, the walls were restored in 1980, followed by the second floor in 1998. The upper floor and roof were restored in 2002.

Still owned by the dukes of Urach, the castle is open to the public via guided tour, although some rooms may not be entered. The courtyard is open to the general public, allowing the gun emplacements on the walls to be viewed.

Lichtenstein Castle has appeared on various postage stamps. In the late 1940s, during the French occupation of this area of Germany, authorities issued a series of stamps that included an 84-Reichspfennig stamp showing the castle, and the Deutsche Bundespost Berlin issued a 35-pfennig stamp depicting the castle in 1982.

1826: In Wilhelm Hauff's romantic novel, Lichtenstein, the original medieval castle is the namesake and primary locale of the story.

2009: Lichtenstein was used for the filming of Dornröschen, a German adaption of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty.
Lichtenstein Castle is the inspiration for the home stage of a character in the arcade game, Super Street Fighter II.

In 1862, a castle was constructed in Lietzow, at Bergen auf Rügen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, that copied much from Lichtenstein Castle.

The "Leckzapfen" vineyard house constructed at Osthofen in 1891 in Worms in Rhenish Hesse is almost a miniature version of the main building of Lichtenstein Castle.

Reynier Fritz, a German-born Cape Town business man saw the castle and decided to replicate it in upon his return to Hout Bay, South Africa. He started building in 1986 and in 1998 it was completed, He eventually turned it into a guest house before dying there.Some time after his death, his widow, Christine, sold it to an overseas buyer. Although allegedly haunted, the castle is one of the area's most popular attractions. In 2012, the castle was sold for 23 million Rand to a Russian business man.



Lichtenstein Castle (Württemberg)

Hohenneuffen Castle is a large ruined castle in the northern foothills of the Swabian Alb, above the town of Neuffen in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg.

The medieval castle is situated on a large late Jurassic rock on the edge of the Swabian Alb at an elevation of 743 m (2437 ft) in a strategically advantageous location on the slopes of the mountain range.

There is evidence for a pre-historic, iron age settlement on Hohenneuffen. It functioned as an outpost for the oppidum at Heidengraben during the late La Tène period in the first century BCE.

The pre-Germanic name Neuffen is derived from the proto-Celtic adjective nobos, meaning holy or sacred, implying that the mountain had a religious rather than a military function 2000 years ago.

The castle was built between 1100 and 1120 by Mangold von Sulmetingen who later changed his name to include the element von Neuffen. The first documentary evidence dates from 1198. At that time the castle was still in possession of the family von Neuffen, a member of which was the Minnesänger Gottfried von Neifen. The castle went into the possession of the Lords of Weinsberg at the end of the 13th century who sold it on to the Counts of Württemberg in 1301. The castle proved its defensive worth in 1312 when, during the internal strife within the Holy Roman Empire following the election of Henry VII as Holy Roman Emperor, it could not be conquered.

The expansion of Hohenneuffen Castle into a fortress began in the 14th century. However, the most important alterations to the castle structure were conducted by Duke Ulrich of Württemberg in the first half of the 16th century. Barbicans, round towers, bastions, a building for the commanding officer, casemates, stables, an armoury as well as two cisterns were built. Essentially, these fortification did not change for the next two hundred years. While the fortress had to surrender to troops from the Swabian League in 1519, it withstood the insurgent peasants' attempt to take it during the German Peasants' War of 1524/25.

The castle was besieged by Imperial forces for more than a year during the Thirty Years' War. In November 1635 the commanding officer Johann Philipp Schnurm and his dispirited troops managed to negotiate a surrender, allowing Schnurm and his men to depart with their weapons and possessions. Yet, in violation of the agreed terms the troops were forced to serve in the Imperial army and Schnurm lost all his possessions.

Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg planned to have Hohenneuffen altered into a fortress following the French model. Yet he died before the task was completed and his successor, Karl Eugen abandoned the plan due to the high costs and the doubtful military benefit. In 1793 it was decided to raze the castle and to sell off the building materials. The castle went out of use in 1795 and was finally destined for destruction in 1801. The inhabitants of the surrounding area were happy to utilise the cheap building materials. Only from 1830 onwards the remains of the castle were safeguarded from further destruction and in the 1860s public access to the ruin was allowed. In 1862 an inn was established in one of the buildings in the upper bailey.

Similar to other fortresses Hohenneuffen was used as a holding place for prisoners of the state, where important prisoners were held and, if deemed necessary, tortured. Amongst those were a young Count of Helfenstein who fell to his death in 1502 whilst trying to escape from the castle. In 1512 Duke Ulrich had the abbot of Zwiefalten Abbey, Georg Fischer, imprisoned at the castle. On the orders of Duke Ulrich the reeve of Tübingen, Konrad Breuning, was held and tortured here before being beheaded in 1517 in Stuttgart. Matthäus Enzlin, Geheimrat at the court of Duke Johann Frederick of Württemberg, attempted several escapes whilst being imprisoned on Hohenneuffen in the early 16th century. In 1737 Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, Court Jew to Duke Karl Alexander was incarcerated on Hohenneuffen for several weeks before being relocated to Hohenasperg, finally to be executed in Stuttgart in 1738.

During the Allied occupation of Germany following the end of World War II, the military governments of the American and French occupation zones founded three states in their zones in 1946 and 1947: Württemberg-Baden in the American zone, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Baden in the French occupation zone. When it became known that a constitution was being worked out for West Germany, a number of politician took the initiative to merge the three south-western states. The prime minister of Württemberg-Baden, Reinhold Maier, invited the governments of the three states to a conference which took place on 2 August 1948 at Hohenneuffen Castle. His idea was to bring the governments closer together in order to prepare for the formation of a new state in the southwest of Germany. The delegation from Baden was headed by Leo Wohleb, an uncompromising advocate of the restoration of the former Baden. Württemberg-Hohenzollern was represented by its home secretary, Viktor Renner. Maier had chosen the place for the conference with care. The wide view from the top of the mountain, particularly onto the border of the occupation zones which ran between the district of Reutlingen and the then district of Nürtingen, was meant to impress the delegates. Secluded from their respective governmental apparatus and the public, the participants were supposed to be able to engage in discussions without any disturbances. However, no agreement was reached at the end of the conference. Nevertheless, it marked the beginning of the process which led to the formation of the so-called Southwest State in 1952: Baden-Württemberg.

Today, access to Hohenneuffen Castle is free for the public and some of the casemates are accessible. There is also a restaurant, beer garden and a kiosk.

A fell running event (Hohenneuffen-Berglauf) takes place every June. Participants have to cover a distance of 9.3 km and a difference in altitude of 483 metres.

Furthermore, the castle is also used for concerts and a medieval-style market.