Burg Tengen: A Medieval Hilltop Castle in Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.1
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page4 sections
History
Burg Tengen, also known as the Hinterburg, is a medieval hilltop castle in Germany, built around 1150 by the Barons of Tengen, who later became counts. A hilltop castle is a fortified residence or stronghold built on elevated ground. The complex occupied a narrow rocky ridge near Tengen, and its history became closely connected with the planned town that developed on the forward part of the ridge.
Foundation and Division of the Lordship
In the mid-thirteenth century, the rulers of Tengen founded a deliberately planned town on the forward section of the elongated ridge. Around 1275, the lordship was divided. The extensive rear section of the castle complex was separated from the forward area and became known as the Hinterburg, or rear castle.
After several changes of ownership, the castle passed to the Mainau Commandery of the Teutonic Order. The Teutonic Order was a medieval military-religious organization whose commanderies served as local administrative and economic centers.
Destruction and Later Use
After 1442, an army of the Swabian League destroyed the Hinterburg. The Swabian League was a late medieval alliance of towns and territorial rulers in southwestern Germany. After the rear lordship had barely recovered, the Swiss Confederates destroyed it again in 1457. These allied communities and territories belonged to the Old Swiss Confederacy. The Swiss chronicler Gerold Edlibach described the attacks and included an illustration of Tengen’s old town, showing the front castle and the rear tower.
The front castle burned down completely in 1519. In 1522, Count Christoph of Nellenburg-Tengen sold the castle and the County of Tengen to Emperor Charles V, the Habsburg ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519. Much of the castle complex was demolished during the sixteenth century, while the remaining ruin continued to be used as a quarry until around 1850.
Burg Tengen is protected as a historic monument. Its recorded social estates are noble and clerical.
Remains
Burg Tengen stands on a narrow rocky spur at about 610 metres above sea level in the Konstanz district of Baden-Württemberg. The former complex extended along the elongated ridge, with the forward section used for the planned town and the rear section forming the Hinterburg. The surviving keep, the castle’s principal fortified tower, is a square tower ruin constructed on a plan measuring approximately 7 by 7 metres.
The keep originally rose about 32 metres and now stands at approximately 20 metres. It is the remaining tower structure of the former castle complex and preserves the scale of its principal fortified element in ruined form.
