Husen Castle

Husen Castle is the ruin of a high medieval hilltop castle in the Kinzig valley in the Black Forest above the town of Hausach in the Ortenau district in Baden-Württemberg.

Presumably, the Dukes of Zähringen built a first hilltop castle there in the 12th century, which was first mentioned in 1246 as Castrum Husen. It was owned by the Counts of Freiburg. In 1303, the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Fürstenberg through the marriage of Verena of Freiburg.

Count Heinrich IV of Fürstenberg had the castle extensively rebuilt and expanded between 1453 and 1477. A neck ditch and an outer bailey protected the actual castle with its palas and keep.

The castle was the residence of the princely castellans. In 1632 it burned down and was rebuilt. In 1643, French-Weimar troops under Count Jean Baptiste Budes de Guébriant destroyed it.

Later, the ruin was incorporated into the redoubts for the defense of the valley against enemy troops. In 1896, the keep received a crenellated crown instead of the spire. In 1968, the town of Hausach bought the ruin from the House of Fürstenberg. Parts of the palas wall, the so-called battery tower, and the keep are preserved.