Hohenschelklingen Castle

The ruin is located in the south of the Swabian Alb at an altitude of 621.5 m above sea level on a mountain spur of the 685 m above sea level Schlossberg, located 500 m to the north, between the Schelklingen Valley, formed by the Urdonau, in the west and the Längental in the east. To the south below the castle ruin lies the town of Schelklingen.

The castle was first mentioned in 1127 as Castro et villae Schälkalingen. At that time, it was, together with the town of Schelklingen, in the possession of the noble free brothers Rüdiger, Adalbert and Walter von Schelklingen. The builders of the castle must also have come from this family. Until the beginning of the 13th century, Walter von Schelklingen, first mentioned shortly before 1184, was still the owner of the castle and the town of Schelklingen. At the beginning of the 13th century, ownership changed through the marriage of Walter von Schelklingen's heiress daughter, Adelheid, to Count Heinrich von Berg. Around the period from 1210 to 1241, Count Heinrich III von Berg was the lord of the castle and town of Schelklingen. Among other things, he is also credited with elevating Schelklingen to a town. Presumably, a castle expansion of Hohenschelklingen Castle in the area of the outer bailey also took place under him. After Heinrich III, his son Ulrich II von Berg (1248–1266) took over the rule of the castle. He first appears in 1248 as Count of Berg-Schelklingen. When Urspring, today a district of Schelklingen, was destroyed in 1246/1247, a siege of the castle is assumed.

Subsequently, the castle was fundamentally modernized and around 1265 the keep was built in its present form. During the reign of Count Konrad (1319–1346) of Berg-Schelklingen, the town and castle experienced their greatest heyday as a residential city and administrative center of the Counts of Berg. In 1343, Count Konrad and his only daughter Luitgard sold the town, including the castle complex, to the Dukes Albrecht, Friedrich, Leopold and Rudolf of Austria. The castle was the main residence of the comital family until the extinction of the Counts of Berg with Konrad von Berg-Schelklingen in April 1346. After that, Schelklingen lost its central function and thus the castle also lost its significance as a comital residence. Through the pledging of the lordship of Schelklingen, the complex became the seat of the respective pledge lord. Until 1396, Konrad von Reischach was the owner.