Kirneck Castle (Ruin)

The Kirneck ruin, also known as Kirnegg, Kürneck, Kürnach, Salvest, is a castle ruin on a rock above the Kirnach valley between the city of Villingen-Schwenningen and Unterkirnach in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in Baden-Württemberg.

The small hilltop castle was built at the end of the 12th century by the Lords of Kirneck, who were Zähringer ministeriales, as a dynastic castle. In 1185, a Hugo von Kirneck is mentioned for the first time; the castle itself appears in sources around 1280. Around 1400, the lineage of the Lords of Kirneck died out, and the castle fell to the city of Villingen in 1506. In 1810, the complex was demolished and used as a quarry. Immediately before this demolition, a keep is said to have still been present. At the foot of the rock, there was also a chapel, consecrated to Saint Wendelin in 1496. Of the former castle complex, an 18-meter-long and seven-meter-high shield wall and remnants of walls are still preserved. The gate entrance visible today on the shield wall was only added in recent times. In 2010, the complex was renovated after it had previously been closed due to the risk of collapse.