Niefernburg Castle

The Niefernburg is a castle in Niefern from the Reformation era. The castle stands on the remains of the valley castle, which was built by the Lords of Niefern no later than 1185.

In Niefern, there were once two castles, one above the village, Hohenniefern Castle, and one down in the meadows, the Valley Castle, both built early on. The ownership relations will probably always remain unclear. It seems certain that both castles were owned by the noble family named after the village, the Lords of Niefern. A part of their possessions apparently passed into the hands of the closely related Lords of Enzberg in the 13th century, and from their possession, these holdings, together with the Valley Castle, came to the Lords of Wallstein and von Bach. Both of these families were also related and intermarried with those of Niefern.

The Lords of Niefern resided at Hohenniefern until their extinction around the beginning of the 16th century. Ludwig Leutrum von Ertringen then acquired the castle from Baden ownership and made it his residence. After the death of his grandson Ernst Ludwig Leutrum in 1630, the castle was left to decay. The plague raged in Niefern in those years. Afterwards, Hohenniefern may have been destroyed in the turmoil of war (Peasants' War, Thirty Years' War, French War) and later dismantled as a quarry.

The Valley Castle came into Baden possession under Margrave Christoph, along with three-quarters of the village, which he acquired from Maulbronn Monastery and the knight Georg von Bach. His son Margrave Philipp bought the last quarter of Niefern from Konrad von Wallstein. Thus, the old-established noble families had disappeared from Niefern. Allegedly, the Valley Castle then stood empty and fell into disrepair. It is probable that a margravial administrator lived there, who had to manage the associated estates. Since the maintenance of the fortifications was an enormous cost factor, they were allowed to decay.

In 1555, Margrave Karl II gifted the old, no longer noble castle estate in Niefern and the associated estates and rights to his young chancellor Martin Achtsynit. In the courtyard, surrounded by a moat and dilapidated walls, he erected a new small castle on the old site, which he named Niefernburg.

After resigning his chancellorship in 1584, he lived here in Niefernburg until his death in 1592. His son-in-law took over the castle and continued to expand it. It remained the property of his family until 1711. Afterwards, the property reverted to the Margraviate and, after some time, became a rectory. In 1856, the small castle became a rescue institution (orphanage) for children, from which today's socio-pedagogical institution for girls and boys developed and is an institution of the Diakonisches Werk of the Evangelical State Church for youth welfare.

The stair tower, 27 meters high, is the most striking and best-preserved feature of the building.