Wildenstein Castle

Wildenstein Castle stands in Burg Wildenstein, Leibertingen, Germany, and was erected by medieval German nobility in the thirteenth century.

The site replaced an earlier local chain of fortifications, which included Altwildenstein, Unterwildenstein, Hexenturm and Hahnenkamm. A supposed reference to the castle in 1077 has been shown to be a falsification by a monastery chronicler. Excavated ceramics and other finds place the original construction firmly in the 1200s. After about 1263 the site passed into the hands of the Justingen family. Rudolf von Ramsberg held the castle in 1319.

Control shifted again in the later fourteenth century. Around the 1390s Burkhard von Lichtenstein and Wilhelm Schenck von Stauffenberg held rights, and by 1397 or 1398 half the castle belonged to Johannes von Zimmern. Full possession was confirmed in 1415, and by 1462 the Zimmern family exercised wider control in the region. In 1441 Werner the Younger carried out a notable enlargement, creating a deep cistern for the castle.

At the end of the fifteenth century the site was sold to Andreas von Sonnenberg in 1491 and returned to Gottfried von Zimmern by about 1497. From 1514 Gottfried Werner von Zimmern transformed the place into an early-modern fortress; the external layout that followed was essentially complete by 1554. During the sixteenth century the castle sheltered civilians during epidemics and served as a refuge in armed conflicts, including the Peasants’ War of 1525, the Schmalkaldic War of 1546–47 and the Prince’s War of 1552. The chapel was rebuilt or enlarged in 1536–37 and a bell now dated 1525 belonged to that period. The large pictorial cycle known as Sigenot was painted in the late 1530s.

In 1627 the House of Fürstenberg acquired the property. Bavarian troops occupied the castle after its capitulation on 4 September 1642, and the fortress remained under Bavarian control until 1649. Later it stood under an imperial garrison during the War of the Palatine Succession and again provided refuge in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Fire and storm events affected the complex in the eighteenth century: a bridge burned in 1744 and lightning struck the west wing in 1756. In later years much of the complex served as a prison. Plans to demolish the site in 1802 were abandoned and a renovation campaign took place between 1804 and 1806. The chapel underwent a further restoration in 1867. A strong earthquake on 16 November 1911 caused large cracks in the surrounding enceinte and in the commandant’s tower and led to the loss of parts of gables and cornices.

In the twentieth century the castle began to be used as accommodation for youth groups and on 21 December 1971 the Schwaben section of the German Youth Hostel Association bought the property. Major repair and investment work followed from 1972 to 1977, with a reported expenditure of 4.7 million Deutsche Mark. Frescoes were restored in 1989. Beginning in 2005, the state preservation office took part in a program of roof and structural repairs that included re-roofing in 2006. The site was named by the state foundation as monument of the month for April 2016.