Falkenstein Castle near Gerstetten: A Medieval Hill Castle in Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page9 sections
History
Falkenstein Castle is a medieval hill castle near Gerstetten, Germany, built around 1150 for the von Falkenstein family. It became the center of the Falkenstein lordship, which belonged to the Swabian Circle, a regional administrative grouping within the Holy Roman Empire, a Central European political entity.
Origins and the von Falkenstein family
After 1050, the territory that later formed the lordship belonged to the Count Palatine based at Heidenheim. A count palatine held a high-ranking office with judicial and administrative authority. Parts of the territory passed by inheritance to Margrave Diebold of Giengen-Vohburg. His daughter Adela married Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in 1147. After their marriage ended in 1153, Frederick retained her dowry.
Around 1160, Gotebert, who came from the Upper Palatinate, acquired the Falkenstein lordship, probably as a ministerial of Frederick. Ministerials were members of a service nobility bound to a ruler or lord. Gotebert adopted the name von Falkenstein, which is first recorded in the mid-12th century through him.
Inheritance and changing lords
Rudolf and Swigger von Falkenstein are the last family members recorded, in 1258. Around 1260, the heiress Adelheid married Walter of Faimingen. After Walter’s death in 1272, their heiress Adelheid married Heinrich Spät. He took the name Speth von Faimingen and became lord of Falkenstein.
Heinrich’s son Hermann married a daughter of Count Johannes of Helfenstein. In 1331, Hermann persuaded his father-in-law to give up forest rights in the Falkenstein estates; the charter recording this also mentions the castle. After Hermann’s death, inheritance was intended for the daughters of his deceased son Friedrich. They came under the guardianship of Emperor Louis IV and later his son, Margrave Louis of Brandenburg. In the mid-14th century, Falkenstein was pledged to Duke Conrad of Teck, then redeemed and transferred to the Helfenstein brothers Ulrich the Elder and Ulrich the Younger, apparently to settle claims they held.
In 1356, the Helfensteins divided their lordship, and Falkenstein and Faimingen went to Ulrich the Younger. He gave Falkenstein to his daughter Anna as a dowry. Her marriage to Duke Frederick of Teck-Owen brought the castle to the dukes of Teck around 1359.
Rechberg and Württemberg rule
Emperor Charles IV granted Duke Frederick market rights and high justice for nearby Dettingen. High justice was the authority to try serious crimes, including those punishable by death. In 1390, Frederick sold Falkenstein, its mill, and goods in Dettingen, Heuchlingen, Ballendorf, and Mehrstetten to Albrecht III of Rechberg zu Staufeneck. After a prolonged dispute over villages belonging to Falkenstein, high justice passed to the lordship of Heidenheim in 1531.
A fire at the castle was recorded in 1570. In 1592 to 1593, Baron Konrad IV of Rechberg zu Staufeneck sold it to Duke Ludwig of Württemberg. Falkenstein was partly destroyed in 1634 during the Thirty Years’ War, a series of Central European conflicts fought from 1618 to 1648. Further parts were demolished in 1740 and again in 1818.
Remains
Layout and surviving features
Main castle and outer enclosure
The castle occupied the western slope of the Eselsburger Valley in the Brenz Valley. The main castle stood on a rock reaching 510 metres above sea level, while the outer fortified enclosure lay at the western edge of the adjoining plateau, toward Dettingen am Albuch. The site is about 2.5 kilometres south-southwest of Herbrechtingen and 2.7 kilometres east of Dettingen am Albuch. It also lies about one kilometre below Bindstein Mill in the direction of Eselsburg.
The wider complex was expanded between 1430 and 1450. Its outer enclosure was newly built and fortified in the mid-15th century. Some parts survive and belong to the Falkenstein estate.
Building with a round corner tower
One surviving feature is a building with a round tower at its corner, within the outer enclosure.
Anna-Magdalena Chapel
The Anna-Magdalena Chapel stands on the eastern side of the outer enclosure.
