Marstetten Castle (Ruin)

The castle ruin Marstetten is located northwest of Aitrach in the district of Marstetten, a part of Aitrach in the Ravensburg district in Baden-Württemberg. The complex is owned by the House of Waldburg-Zeil.

The hilltop castle extends on the 657.8 m above sea level Burghalde in the Zeil gravel field at the edge of the Iller valley. The ruin is now located directly on the connecting road L314 Bad Wurzach – Aitrach and consists of the castle Alt-Marstetten, located south of the road, and the newer part, which is located north of the road.

Marstetten Castle derived its name from the fact that it functioned as a border marker between two districts. This function as a border marker dated back to around the year 838. On the one hand, the Illergau was separated from the Nibelgau, and on the other hand, the area of Kempten Abbey was separated from the area of Ottobeuren Monastery. The County of Marstetten held high jurisdiction. The court of jurisdiction was Memmingen. Marstetten included, among other things, estates in the following settlements:

• Aitrach
• Marstetten, Vogelherd and Pfänders
• Mooshausen
• Aichstetten
• Ferthofen
• Tannheim and Kronwinkel
• Eschach
• Benningen
• Heimertingen
• Kellmünz
• several estates in Memmingen

The castle was probably built in the 11th century by a branch of the Margraves of Ursin-Ronsberg on the Schlossberg. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was destroyed by Swedish troops and subsequently not rebuilt.