Zuzenhausen Castle

Zuzenhausen Castle is the ruin of a hilltop castle at about 160 m above sea level above the southern edge of the municipality of Zuzenhausen in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg.

The castle was probably built by Ludwig von Huffnen around 1250 and first mentioned in 1286. It is now only recognizable as an overgrown ruin. The hillside castle is a pentagonal complex with a mighty shield wall, but probably never had a keep. After several extensions in the mid-16th century, the castle became a seat of the Lords of Venningen. In 1637, the Zuzenhausen line of the Lords of Venningen died out, but the castle remained in family ownership. During the Thirty Years' War, the complex was destroyed again in 1643 by the Bavarians and in 1689 by the French during the Palatinate War of Succession. The ruin has since been used as a quarry; the residential tower, which was still preserved in the mid-19th century, fell victim to this circumstance.