Staufen Castle

Staufen Castle is the ruin of a hilltop castle in an exposed location on a 375 m above sea level hill north of the town of Staufen im Breisgau in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg.

Finds and excavations indicate that a watchtower stood on the hill at the site of the current castle ruin as early as Roman times.

The castle probably dates from the early 12th century and was built by the Lords of Staufen. Adalbert von Staufen built the castle house around 1100.

Staufen Castle is first explicitly mentioned in a document from 1248. Shortage of money and unsuccessful feuds of the Lords of Staufen against the nearby city of Freiburg led to Freiburg gaining influence over Staufen Castle in the 14th century.

In the years 1327 and 1337, the city was able to acquire shares in the castle and enforce a so-called right of opening.
This prohibited the other castle owners from undertaking anything against the city of Freiburg from the castle. In return, the city's actions had to be supported and the castle always had to be open to its troops.

With Georg Leo von Staufen, the lineage of the Lords of Staufen died out in 1602. Since 1607, the castle was no longer inhabited. The undefended Staufen Castle was occupied by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War, who burned down and destroyed the castle in 1632.

In 1896, the city of Staufen acquired the ruin and had it renovated. In 1954 and 1960, the castle ruin was renovated again. The outer walls of the castle are still preserved.