Ellhofen Castle (Ruin)

The ruin of Ellhofen Castle is located about one kilometer south of the village of Ellhofen, which belongs to the Westallgäu market town of Weiler-Simmerberg. Only a few wall remains are preserved from the formerly well-fortified medieval castle complex.

The history of the castle and that of the village of Ellhofen are closely linked.

The castle was built towards the end of the 13th century by the local noble family of Ellhofen. The lordship is first documented in 1287. It was endowed with low jurisdiction since 1418. In 1446, the male line of the family died out when Rudolf von Ellhofen was stabbed by Confederates near Ragaz. His sisters then sold the property to Rudolf von Weiler. Already in 1462, the castle passed to the Counts of Montfort-Rothenfels, who also owned it for only a short time. In 1475, Wilhelm von Neidegg, a wealthy patrician from Ravensburg, acquired the castle and village of Ellhofen for the considerable sum of 1,600 guilders.

During the Peasants' War, the castle was plundered and devastated in 1525.

The male line of the Neidegger family died out in 1562, whereupon the lordship was sold to the Teutonic Order. In 1634, during the Thirty Years' War, Ellhofen Castle was burned down by the Swedes and has probably been uninhabited ever since. In 1806, the ruin came to Bavaria, and in 1853, it was deliberately dismantled to use the building material thus obtained to expand the church in Ellhofen.