Hohenbaden Castle

The Margraves of Baden resided in Hohenbaden Castle (originally Hohenbaden Castle at its founding, today the Old Castle) in Baden-Baden.

The castle was built as the first center of power for the Margraves of Limburg after the relocation of their rule to the Upper Rhine, on the western slope of the Battert rock above the town of Baden. The construction of the upper castle, the so-called Hermann's Building, by Margrave Hermann II (1074–1130) is assumed to have begun around the year 1100. From 1112, the margraves called themselves Margraves of Baden.

Under Margrave Bernhard I of Baden (1372–1431), the Gothic lower castle was built, which was expanded by Margrave Jakob I (1431–1453) into the representative center of the Margraviate. The most significant part of the building is the Bernhard's Building (around 1400), whose column on the ground floor, with a coat of arms supported by angels, formerly supported the mighty vault. In its heyday, the castle had 100 rooms.

In the same century, Margrave Christoph I expanded the New Castle in the city of Baden, which had begun in 1370, and moved the residence there in 1479. The Old Castle then served as a widow's residence, and in 1599 it was destroyed by fire. Only after 1830 was the ruin structurally secured.

From the tower of the Old Castle, one has a good panoramic view over Baden-Baden and a distant view of the Rhine plain and the Vosges mountains. The castle courtyard of the ruin is also considered worth seeing. Visiting the castle and tower is free of charge.

A large wind harp stands in the ruins of the knight's hall of the Old Castle. The harp, installed in 1999, has a total height of 4.10 meters and 120 strings. It was developed and built by the local musician and harp builder Rüdiger Oppermann, who described it as the largest wind harp in Europe. The nylon strings are stimulated by the airflow to produce the fundamental tones C and G. A small wind harp already existed in the knight's hall of the Old Castle from 1851–1920.