The remains of the Castle can be visited
RuinBeuron
Kreidenstein Castle (Ruin)
Kreidenstein Castle is a high medieval castle ruin located 600 meters southwest of Reinfelderhof, a domain once belonging to Beuron in the Sigmaringen district of Baden-Württemberg.
The spur castle, situated north of Fridingen at the end of a flattened, rocky promontory high above the Bära Valley, is in the immediate vicinity of the Pfannenstiel castle ruin, separated by the deep incision of a dry valley.
The municipal boundary, marked by four boundary stones and formerly the Württemberg-Hohenzollern state border, runs through the castle grounds. The largest part is located within the municipality of Beuron and thus belongs to the Sigmaringen district.
The freely accessible castle complex is located at approximately 740 meters above sea level, while the Bära Valley is at approximately 640 meters above sea level.
Little is known about the fate of the castle and its owners. According to oral tradition, the neighboring Pfannenstiel Castle was destroyed by fire following a nocturnal lightning strike. A knight's daughter is said to have perished in the fire, having ordered a servant to drown her younger brother beforehand. However, the servant handed the child over to an old woman in the Bära Valley. The "brother, who had grown into a stately youth," wanted nothing more to do with Pfannenstiel and is then said to have built Kreidenstein Castle on the neighboring rock.
Information about Kreidenstein only dates back to 1456. From 1456 to 1469, a Wilhelm von Kreidenstein was provost at Beuron Monastery. Wilhelm came from the Rottweil patrician family Spretter. After acquiring the castle, they named themselves Spretter von Kreidenstein after it. Furthermore, members of this family were judges at the imperial court. Provost Wilhelm, the last of the Spretter von Kreidenstein, bequeathed the castle with all its accessories and the fishing rights (Fischenz) in the Bära to Beuron Monastery in 1470. With the secularization in 1803, the Beuron property, including the "Burgstall Kreidenstein," passed to the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who still own it today.
Description+
Only a few remains of the former castle complex are preserved. The otherwise typical neck ditch on the mountain side is completely absent. This was not necessary, as the outer bailey could be built on a natural 3.5-meter-high rock base. To the left of the base is the lower access to the outer bailey and its courtyard in the southwest with building remains. In the northwest of the outer bailey, minor wall remains are preserved, suggesting the location of a larger building with visible facing as a rubble stone wall on the inside. The outer bailey measured approximately 55 meters in length and 15 to 20 meters in width.
The relatively small core castle is located in the western part of the castle complex behind a 10-meter-wide section ditch. At its narrowest point, the core castle has few remains of a residential tower with a footprint of 5.50 by 8.60 meters. Masonry and rubble are still up to 70 centimeters high. The terrain ends after approximately 20 meters in steep rock steps.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 48.0493, 8.9342