Lichtenstein Castle

The origins of the current Lichtenstein Castle trace back to the late Middle Ages. Around 1390, a castle was erected on this site after the nearby predecessor, Alt-Lichtenstein Castle, was destroyed and abandoned during the Swabian League War of 1381. The new castle was considered one of the most formidable of its era, but it lost its strategic importance and served as a forester's house from 1567. During the Thirty Years' War, it came into the possession of the Tyrolean line of the Habsburgs and subsequently fell into disrepair. In 1802, the forester's house was built by order of Duke Frederick II of Württemberg. The current castle was constructed between 1840 and 1842 according to plans by Carl Alexander Heideloff, after Wilhelm, Count of Württemberg (later Duke of Urach), acquired the property.