Ruine Bussen

Ruine Bussen stands in the municipality of Uttenweiler, Germany, and was constructed during the medieval period. The earliest phase of the fortress likely dates to the end of the eleventh century when a hilltop stronghold was established on the summit of the Bussen.

By the mid-thirteenth century the castle served as an imperial fortress under the Staufer dynasty. In the fourteenth century its status changed when it became a Habsburg fief and passed into the hands of the Truchsessen von Waldburg family. In 1516 a pilgrimage church dedicated to St. John the Baptist was erected to the west of the castle’s outer ward, giving the hill a religious association that endured alongside the ruined fortifications.

During the Thirty Years’ War, in December 1633, Swedish forces commanded by King Gustav Adolf carried out the destruction of the castle. The site fell into long-term decay until 1785, when Prince Anselm of Thurn and Taxis acquired the ruin and personally funded work to stabilise it. In 1997 the district of Biberach took ownership and carried out restoration work on the main keep; a plaque on that tower records the county’s acquisition and repair in 1997. A separate tablet bearing an inscription by the dialect poet Michel Buck (1832–1888) is attached to the tower. The ruin has been referred to both as Ruine Bussen and Bussenburg.