Wolfach Castle

The Wolfach ruin, also known as Altwolfach or Schlössle, is the remnant of the former Wolfach Castle in Wolfach in the Ortenau district in Baden-Württemberg. The ruin of the hilltop castle is located on a steep conical hill at about 318 meters above sea level in a side valley of the Kinzig, on the left bank of the Wolf between Wolfach and the Kirche district of Oberwolfach.

When the castle was exactly built is not documented. However, the Salian construction style of the castle suggests it was built towards the end of the 11th century by the Lords of Wolfach. In 1084, the name "Wolfacha" appears for the first time. It is said that during this time, a Fridericus de Wolfhacha inhabited the castle. After that, however, the castle disappears from history again. Only in 1272 are there again sources about the castle. A miraculous hen is said to have laid two eggs with two yolks in its nest daily "in castro Wolfach". In 1291, Friedrich von Fürstenberg († 1296) married Udilhild von Wolfach, the last descendant of the family. The entire dominion thus fell to the Fürstenbergs through inheritance.

Around 1380, we learn of a "hoff vor der Burg" (farm in front of the castle). From 1447 to 1449, extensive renovation work was carried out on the "burgk ober Wolfach" (castle above Wolfach) by Heinrich VI von Fürstenberg. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was apparently destroyed. There is also the possibility of a slow decay of the castle. Apparently, its military value was so low that it was not rebuilt. In 1778, the prince allowed residents to remove stones from the existing masonry to secure the banks of the Wolf.

After that, the remains of the ancestral castle of the Lords of Wolfach finally fell into a Sleeping Beauty slumber until 1977, when the Wolfach Black Forest Association, as part of local heritage preservation, uncovered and secured the remaining foundations for two years.