The castle was probably built around 1200 as the ancestral seat of a branch of the noble von Hürnheim family, who subsequently named themselves after the castle (de alta domo, i.e. to or from the high house). In 1236 Rudolf I von Hochhaus is mentioned as a witness to a notarization.

In 1347 the complex was sold to the Counts of Oettingen-Oettingen by Konrad II for £ 3,000. The last of the lords of the skyscraper died in 1353 without an heir, which was probably one of the reasons for selling the castle. The counts use the castle as an official residence, which was modernized and strengthened in terms of defense technology in the 15th and 16th centuries.

In 1719 the old castle complex was finally expanded into a palace, but the fortifications and the old palace were largely retained. This castle building burned down in 1749, no reconstruction was needed.

Between 1787 and 1792 the journalist and educator Wilhelm Ludwig Wekhrlin was imprisoned in the skyscraper. While in custody, he writes articles for his political magazines Das graue Ungeheur, Hyperborean letters and paragraphs.

The old hall was used as the official building of the Oettingen-Wallerstein line until 1807 and then also left to decay. This decay was deliberately accelerated for romantic reasons; the castle ruins - like the neighboring Niederhaus castle - were to serve as a picturesque landscape scenery in the Karthäusertal. Nevertheless, the ruins are apparently still inhabited for a long time: In 1839, the city council of Nördlingen granted the court councilor Helene le Bret from the skyscraper to move to the city.

In the sixties of the twentieth century the countercarp of the neck ditch was secured (already partially collapsed again), other maintenance measures on the building fabric cannot be ascertained.

Translated by Google •

Alfred

May 26, 2018

The ruin is in the middle of the forest, is collapsing and should not be entered.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Hochhaus

Translated by Google •

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Elevation 550 m

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Take Me There

Location: Hohenaltheim, Danube-Ries, Altmühltal, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany

Other Popular Places to Check Out

View of Niederhaus Castle Ruins from the Pond

Große und Kleine Ofnethöhlen

Parking Area at Hoher Stein and Ruine Niederhaus

Hohlensteinhöhle

Roman Villa Rustica Maienbachtal

Ruine Hochhaus mit Stauferstele

Niederhaus Castle Ruins

Christgarten Charterhouse and St. Peter's Church Ruins

View of the Ofnet Caves

Short Trail With Small Jumps in Geopark Ries

View of Bollstadt

Riegel Cliff Edge at Ofnethöhlen

Hochhaus Castle Ruins

1. Panoramic view over the Ries / Ipf – Ruins of Niederhaus Castle loop from Nördlingen

2. Panoramic view over the Ries / Ipf – Nördlingen Market Square loop from Nördlingen

3. View of Mönchsdeggingen – Panoramic view over the Ries / Ipf loop from Pflaumloch

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