Reichenberg Castle is a Hohenstaufen castle complex above Oppenweiler in the Rems-Murr district in Baden-Württemberg.
The hilltop castle was built from 1230 to 1231 by Margrave Hermann V of Baden.
It is said to have had a close relationship with Ebersberg Castle, which was built at the same time in today's Auenwald, and the castle in Besigheim. The dimensions, facilities and existing stonemason marks of the three castles match.
In the Middle Ages, the administrative centers were mostly located in castles. Reichenberg Castle was also a so-called ministerial castle. The knights Wolfram and Berthold von Reichenberg are mentioned as early as 1230. Reichenberg was therefore the official seat and thus also the administrative center of the surrounding areas. From 1293 the Sturmfeder von Oppenweiler sat as ministerials at the castle.
In the 19th century the castle was the seat of the Forestry Office of the Kingdom of Württemberg, among others. Karl Schiller - a son of Friedrich Schiller - worked there as a district forester from 1822 to 1833.
In 1888 the castle was leased to the Samaritan Foundation, which ran a social institution there to care for disabled people. In 1929 the Samaritan Foundation acquired Grafeneck Castle near Gomadingen and relocated the home there.
In 1930 the castle was leased to the Evangelical Society of Stuttgart, which operated a reception center for Stuttgart prostitutes there until the 1950s (prostitution had risen sharply due to the general hardship in Stuttgart after the First World War). The Evangelical Society of Stuttgart then converted the castle back into a home for people with disabilities.
The home has been run by Paulinenpflege Winnenden e. V. operated. Today's owner of the castle is the state of Baden-Württemberg.
Castle tours are possible for groups by prior arrangement. Reichenberg Castle is the best preserved Romanesque castle in the Rems-Murr district.
Source:
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Reichenberg_(W%C3%BCrttemberg)