Granegg Castel (Ruin)

Granegg Castle was a hilltop castle in the Wißgoldingen district of the municipality of Waldstetten in the Ostalbkreis. The castle site is located on the 200 m long, west-facing mountain spur of the Kalten Feld, known as Graneggle, at an altitude of [missing altitude in original]. South of the castle ruins runs the border between the Göppingen district and the Ostalbkreis.

Due to its location, the castle dominated the pass height of the Christental, barely 100 m away, near today's Reiterleskapelle.

Based on the bossed ashlar masonry, the construction period of the castle is placed in the 13th century; precise construction dates are unknown. The builders and owners of the castle are also unknown. Due to documentary mentions, the Lords of Stoffeln from the nearby Weilerstoffel, as well as the Lords of Holtz, are occasionally named as possible lords of Granegg. The von Holtz were ministeriales of the Rechberg family and owned estates in Tannweiler, Wißgoldingen, Winzingen, and in the Christental. However, their existence as lords is unproven for both families.

Whether the castle was destroyed or abandoned is unknown due to a lack of documents. It is generally assumed that Granegg did not exist for very long and was abandoned by the 14th century at the latest. It is no longer recorded on the hunting map drawn by Balthasar Riecker in 1572. The ruins were first mentioned in 1674 by the chronicler Friedrich Vogt from Schwäbisch Gmünd.