Mandach Castle (Ruin)

Mandach Castle, also known as Weiler Castle, stands near Riedern am Wald, a district of Ühlingen-Birkendorf in the Waldshut district, on a rocky spur above the Mettma Valley.

Little is known about its construction history. Around 1352, a Heinrich von Erzingen is mentioned. The Erzinger family owned the castle until their extinction around 1501. It was then sold to Junker Lukas von Reischach, who in turn sold it to St. Blasien, which had it administered by bailiffs. Thus, Christoph von Mandach settled at Weiler Castle in 1581. He died around 1616. He was the chief bailiff of the Margrave of Baden in Ettlingen, and his widow Euphrosine bequeathed her rights to the Riedern am Wald monastery in 1610. The castle was presumably abandoned afterwards. Euphrosine's son Christof Jakob von Mandach was a court master to the Bishop in Worms.

Presumably, the castle was then named Mandach Castle after this family. A small Mandach castle formerly stood near Bad Zurzach. The von Mandach family were once ministerials of the Prince-Bishopric of Constance; their coat of arms is still preserved in the local coat of arms of Mandach.

The castle, of which some remains are still visible, is built narrowly on a rocky spur of granite, so that over the centuries many parts of the wall have slid down the slope. Still visible are the foundation wall of a round corner tower and the remains of the pillar of the (draw?)bridge. The ruin is overgrown with trees.