Stollenburg Castle Ruins

A narrow path leads up to the hill where the old Stollenburg Castle stood. Unfortunately, there is hardly anything to be seen above and the hoped-for view of the Black Forest was very limited by the trees all around.

Hidden behind trees, remains of Stollenburg Castle

The meager remains of the once well-fortified fortress are scattered around the castle hill. In addition to some remains of walls with a diameter of about 1 - 2 m held together with lime mortar, there are also remains of the foundation walls around the hill. The storm "Lothar" uprooted the mighty oak trees here in December 1999 and uncovered the traces of the approximately 3m thick foundation on the northern side of the hill. Two high ramparts once protected the castle, which dates back to the early Middle Ages, if not earlier. Towards Staufenberg, the outer wall is still about 6 m high, while the inner ring wall has flattened out more and more over the centuries, but is still very easy to recognize as such. To the north, towards the Renchtal, the two ramparts have almost completely disappeared because forestry has created a path there. The ramparts are also largely flattened to the east and south. The outer ring wall, which is surmounted by the approximately 11m high castle hill, had a circumference of approx. 270m. The hill also towers around 15m above the summit of Staufenberg Castle and therefore offered the castle residents a wide view, on the one hand into the Renchtal, on the other hand into the Durbachtal and up to the Mooskopf. The oval platform of the old tunnel castle is around 50m long. The erosion of the last centuries has narrowed the originally rather round plateau considerably and so it is hardly more than 10 m wide. The families of the "S t o l l v o n St a u f e n b e r g" and also the "T a r an t v o n St a u f e n b e r g" had their headquarters here until it was completely destroyed in the unspeakable dispute between the Staufenbergers and the bishop of Strasbourg in 1329. The castle offered space for 2 families of knights and a dozen servants with wives, children and all their accessories. Even if we don't want to create today's standards for necessary living space, plus space for cattle, it must have been very tight. There are no plans of the old Stollenburg or even a picture. This "knight's barracks" has been "sunken" in the forest for too long. Only excavations can provide information about the exact extent of the building. What lives on is the memory of a legendary castle in which the Melusine from Schloss Staufenberg, but also the treasures that have not yet been discovered, are hidden.
Source: museumdurbach.de/03-12-01