Bindstein Castle

Bindstein Castle or Binstein is the remnant of a lost high medieval spur castle in the municipality of Herbrechtingen in the district of Heidenheim in Baden-Württemberg.

The present castle site is located about 2600 meters southwest of the town of Herbrechtingen in the Brenz valley, directly opposite the Bindstein farm and mill in the Eselsburger Tal. The former castle probably consisted only of a residential tower and was once located on a pointed 490 m above sea level high rock tower, the freely accessible Fischerfelsen (Fisherman's Rock). Only minor wall remains of the small castle are preserved today.

The castle, which was probably built during the 12th century, once served as the ancestral seat of the Lords of Bindstein, who were presumably of lower noble status. The castle also included a castle hamlet in the valley, of which only a mill, still bearing the former castle name, remains today.

In 1171, the name "Binstein" for the castle and castle hamlet first appeared in a document in which Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa transferred the previously purchased fief in Bindstein to Herbrechtingen Monastery. The holder of the fief at that time was a nobleman named Sefrid (Siegfried).

The next news about Bynstain dates from a time when the castle no longer existed. In 1537, after the death of the last owner Klaus von Bindstein, the hamlet with two dilapidated houses including a barn, gardens, fields, meadows, and fishing waters was no longer leased by the monastery. Since the castle was no longer specifically mentioned, it had probably already been abandoned, according to Günter Schmitt even before 1390. The settlement existed even longer; it was only abandoned and demolished after 1933. Until 1940, a fisherman's hut stood at the foot of the castle rock, from which the rock got its current name.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, descendants of the Bindstein family are traceable in Herbrechtingen as citizens or farmers.