Located: Ebringen, Baden-Württemberg Map
Constructed: 1312 by Lords of Hornberg
Destroyed: 1525 during German Peasants' War
Ruins of medieval Schneeburg Castle is located in Ebringen, Baden-Württemberg region of Germany. Schneeburg Castle was constructed in 1312 by Lords of Hornberg. Although Schneeburg Castle is largely ruined and abandoned, it is still worth a visit offering authentic medieval feel and architecture. The Schneeburg Castle was destroyed in 1525 during German Peasants' War. It was abandoned ever since. Local peasants used the structure for rock quarry. Nevertheless large portions of the stronghold remain standing.
The Schnewlins, one of the most respected and wealthy families in
Freiburg in the 13th century, are believed to be the builders and
namesake of the castle due to the old name "Schnewesberg". According
to other statements, the castle was built by the Lords of Hornberg.
It was first mentioned in 1312. In 1349 Werner von Hornberg handed
them over to the feudal sovereignty of the Sankt Gallen monastery,
from which he received them back as a man fief. The small feudal
lordship of Ehaben was thus created. It seems that the Schnewlin men
still had certain rights to it or received income from it, because
on June 7, 1387, the Schnewlin von Wiger and the Hornberg brothers
Hanman, Ulrich, Werner and Brun because of the snow castle and the
village of Ebringen concluded a contract.
Because Ulrich von
Hornberg pledged the snow castle to his son-in-law Berchtold
Schnewlin Berenlapp, it was returned to Messrs. Schnewlin. By means
of a contract concluded on November 19, 1426, Konrad, the grandson
of Ulrich von Hornberg, enforced the right to release the snow
castle from the pledge against payment of 1200 gold guilders.
However, since he could not raise the money, he quickly married the
daughter of the mortgagee and, with the approval of the St. Gallen
Monastery, prescribed her 2500 guilders on the rule. Thus the man
feud was transformed into a "woman feud". In 1444 the Junker Konrat
von Hornberg was enfeoffed by the St. Gallen Monastery with the
fortress Schneeburg, the associated building yard and the bailiwick
over Ehaben and Thalhausen. In 1448 he was followed by the Junker
Anthoni von Hornberg, probably his son, against which Albrecht von
Habsburg lodged a complaint with the abbot in St. Gallen on behalf
of Konrat von Hornberg.
Probably before 1500 the castle was
abandoned and left to decay, as the Falkensteiner local rulers had
acquired land in the village of Eringen and had taken up residence
at that time. This first Ebringer castle stood on the area where it
is today, which was built between 1711 and 1713.
For the
assumption, often expressed in older literature, that the castle was
destroyed by the Margravians in the battles of the Peasant War in
1525; B. Joseph Bader, however, no evidence or sources can be
determined.
Remains of the keep and a
residential building have been preserved from the castle. The ruin
is about 37 meters long and about 17 meters wide and is surrounded
by a wide moat, which is cut deepest out of the rock on the north
side. There is the rest of the keep with four floors and two windows
to the north. The two-part residential building stands over a small
courtyard in the south. New sandstone cornices are built into the
window openings, which correspond to what was found in fragments in
the old well shaft. The former entrance can be assumed to be in the
defensive wall of the courtyard, which has now disappeared. In the
courtyard, instead of the old well, a stone surround can be seen,
which is sometimes used as a fireplace.
In the 1930s, there
were wooden viewing terraces and stairs leading to them on part of
the walls.