Alt-Lichtenstein Castle (Ruin)

Alt-Lichtenstein Castle, also known as Alter Lichtenstein, is a ruined castle near the municipality of Lichtenstein in the district of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg. The ruins of Alt-Lichtenstein Castle are located on a steep rock spur of the Swabian Jura at 800 meters above sea level on the same steep slope as the "Fairytale Castle of Württemberg," Lichtenstein Castle, 500 meters further northwest, above the Honau district of the municipality of Lichtenstein.

Between 1150 and 1200, Alter Lichtenstein Castle was built. This was presumably under Gebhard von Lichtenstein, a member of the noble family of Lichtenstein. The castle complex was destroyed twice, the first time in 1311 during the Imperial War against Count Eberhard I of Württemberg by the people of Reutlingen. In 1315, it was rebuilt after the peace treaty. The second destruction took place between 1377 and 1381 by the Imperial City of Reutlingen in the Swabian Cities' War. The castle ruins fell to Württemberg in 1389 as a dilapidated property and were not rebuilt. Instead, around 1390, a new castle was built nearby on the site of the later Lichtenstein Castle. The Lichtenstein family died out in 1687. The walls of Alt-Lichtenstein Castle were uncovered in the 1990s and have been open to visitors ever since.