Kalden Castle (Ruin)

Kalden Castle, also known as Neu-Kalden, is a castle ruin north of the market town of Altusried in the Swabian district of Oberallgäu in Bavaria. The hilltop castle stood on a large promontory 90 m above the Iller river and was secured to the west by a ravine, while the east side sloped steeply down to the Iller. Geological instability led to rockslides and loss of substance at the Alt-Kalden castle, mentioned in 1128 and destroyed before 1500, even in the Middle Ages. Today, only a narrow ridge remains.

Therefore, in 1515, a new building was constructed 300 meters south of the complex, which was then named Neu-Kalden. However, this new building was abandoned again as early as 1692 and finally demolished around 1840, except for a tower fragment. Today, a geologically impressive profile of the slipped castle site remains, showing gravel in the upper part and sands and marl in the lower part.

A family named Callindin, who served the Kempten Abbey, first appeared in 1128. In 1384, the castle and lordship passed to the Lords of Rothenstein, then in 1409 by purchase to the powerful Lords of Pappenheim, hereditary marshals of the Empire, who sold it back to the Rothensteiners three years later. In 1482, the Pappenheims again came into possession of the castle, this time through inheritance. Joachim von Pappenheim built Neu-Kalden Castle in 1515, which was sold to the Prince-Abbey of Kempten in 1692, but at the same time abandoned due to impending landslides. In 1985, the market town of Altusried acquired the ruin site.