Enzberg Old Castle

The Enzberg castle ruin is the ruin of a castle in the district of Enzberg in the municipality of Mühlacker in the Enzkreis (Baden-Württemberg).

The founding of Enzberg Castle goes back to the noble family of the Zeisolf-Wolframe. The family ruled as counts over several districts in the Kraichgau region. A Count Wolfram is mentioned in documents, who in the mid-11th century ruled over "Enzeberch" among other places, which probably referred to the Enzgau as a county. For this reason, Enzberg Castle is considered the former main castle of the Enzgau district. The founding of the village of Enzberg is also likely to go back to the Zeisolf-Wolframe and probably originally served to supply the castle inhabitants.

The first mention of the castle took place in 1193, when Archbishop Johannes of Trier acquired it from the Count of Calw and returned it as a fief.

The first documented mention of a noble family that named itself after the castle was "Friedrich von Entzenberg", mentioned between 1193 and 1197. Whether he belonged to the Lords of Enzberg, attested since 1236, or to a Trier or Calw ministerial family is not known. The Lords of Enzberg themselves were related to the Lords of Niefern and the Lords of Dürrmenz, all three of whom bore a finger ring in their coat of arms. Since Enzberg Castle was the largest in the immediate vicinity, the Enzberg branch could have been the main line. The first documented representative of this family is Heinrich von Enzberg, who held the office of Vogt of Maulbronn. Subsequently, the Lords of Enzberg exercised this office as protectors several times, but there were always disputes with Maulbronn Monastery over the rights resulting from the office.

From 1321, the Margraves of Baden and the Counts of Württemberg acquired shares, and furthermore the Count Palatine acquired a right of access to the castle.

In 1384, the Lords of Enzberg violently attacked Maulbronn Monastery in a feud. The then protector Ruprecht of the Palatinate then had the castle besieged with allies and destroyed after its capture. The town of Enzberg, mentioned in documents between 1311 and 1374, probably also fell victim to this punitive action, whose city wall ruins and moats were presumably recognizable until the 19th century.