Heidenstein Castle

The former castle stood on a rock ridge that was partly only two meters narrow but 130 meters long, first running 30 meters in a west-east direction and then turning southeast. The south side slopes steeply, while the entire north side drops about ten meters as a vertical rock face.

In front of the castle grounds, a two to three meter deep and seven meter wide pit can be seen, from which building material for the castle was probably extracted.

The slightly higher ground of the castle was separated from the mountain spur by a presumably unfinished neck ditch, into which steps lead. The ditch runs from north to south and ends after about two-thirds of the width of the mountain spur; the remaining third is probably still in its natural state. It is four meters deep and equally wide. A similar situation exists in the Ahorntal at the Burgstall on the Kandelberg near Körzendorf. There, too, the neck ditch was started, but from both sides. In the middle of the ridge, a passable remnant was left standing, probably serving for better transport of building material to the castle construction site. Between the ditch and the castle, a ledge can still be seen, which probably served as a Zwinger (outer bailey).

In the northern part of the castle's neck ditch near Haidhof, a rock tower was left standing (Image 2). This rock, sometimes referred to as a sacrificial stone, served as a bridge pier. Up to it, there was probably a solid bridge construction; after the pier, an obliquely upward leading drawbridge led to the castle entrance.

At the access to the castle, about 5.5 meters after the ditch, the outline of a square building with a side length of approximately 12 meters can be seen in the wooded area. According to Kunstmann, the wall thickness was about one meter. The southern half of the building was probably cellared, which is recognizable by the vertically worked rock. The castle path led over the bridge and then north past the presumably tower-like building into the outer bailey. The last larger preserved wall remnant is located in a rock crevice on the north side of the outer bailey (Image 1). The three-meter-high retaining wall still consists of five layers of hewn ashlar blocks, which are up to 50 centimeters wide.

On the remaining grounds of the outer bailey, apart from artificial rock workings, no further traces of buildings are visible. The outer bailey is separated from the main castle by a three to four meter deep and three meter wide second neck ditch. It is spanned by a wooden walkway, where a second former drawbridge is probably to be assumed. Immediately after the section ditch, rock workings indicate a gatehouse. A little further on, the slipped wall remains of a vanished building about five meters wide can be seen.

The last section of the castle at the tip of the mountain spur consists of a 5 by 12 meter plateau, on which no wall traces are visible anymore and which serves as a viewpoint.