Hohenfels Castle

The Hohenfels ruin, also called Alt-Hohenfels, is a castle ruin above the municipality of Sipplingen in the Bodenseekreis district in Baden-Württemberg.

The hilltop castle is located on a spur below the Haldenhof, the farmstead for Hohenfels Castle first mentioned in 1441, northwest of Sipplingen.

Alt-Hohenfels was built between 1150 and 1190 by the Lords of Hohenfels, who were probably ministeriales of the Bishops of Constance. They exercised low justice over Sipplingen. In 1191, a Constance canon, Burkhard von Hohenfels, was first mentioned in a document. The "Burkhartslinde", several hundred years old and registered as a natural monument, as well as the Minnesängerstube (minstrel's parlor) set up at the Haldenhof mountain inn, are named after the minnesinger Burkart von Hohenfels. In 1292, the family split and one line settled in a new castle called Neu-Hohenfels. After the extinction of the remaining family, the lordship passed to their brother-in-law Wolf von Jungingen, whose family also died out. This was followed in 1437 by the Lords of Landenberg. In 1479, the hospital in Überlingen acquired the castle and lordship, consisting of several villages and, above all, the Sipplingen vineyards. After 1641, the castle fell into disrepair after its destruction.