Lichtenegg Castle

The castle consists of two building wings with an asymmetrical floor plan, connected by a narrow connecting building. The basement of the castle still dates from the Middle Ages, which is evidenced by the preserved Romanesque cellar vault and an archway from the same period. On the southern corner of the curtain wall, the stump of a tower still stands.

The castle complex also includes the castle chapel in the late Renaissance style. It was built in 1720 and is dedicated to Saint Michael. Inside, a tombstone commemorates the former lord of the castle and writer Karl Heinrich von Neubronner.

The current castle was built around 1560 on the site of a medieval predecessor building, of which some Romanesque parts in the basement are still preserved.

From the second half of the 13th century, the then castle – as well as the village of Hartenstein – was a fief of the Lords of Geroldseck and came from them in 1471 with Sulz to the House of Württemberg. The first documented feudal tenants were the Hacken von Harthausen, followed by the Lords of Ehingen and the Lords of Rosenfeld. In 1549, the complex came into the possession of the Lords vom Stain, who had the buildings rebuilt and the current castle erected. The family remained owners until 1868 or 1870, before the buildings were sold by Baron vom Stain in that year to the Barons von Neubronner. They had the castle renovated in the historicist style, after initial renovation work had already been carried out in 1834.

Until 1836, the complex was still called Harthausen Castle, before it received its current name Lichtenegg.