Zwingenberg Castle

Zwingenberg Castle (Burg Zwingenberg), also called Zwingenberg or Schloss Zwingenberg, stands on the right bank of the River Neckar where it cuts through the Odenwald hills in central Germany. The castle is located in the municipality of Zwingenberg in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Location
The spur castle was built on a hill spur in the triangle formed by the confluence of the steep Wolfschlucht gorge with the Neckar valley and lies about 50 metres above the river.

History
The castle was probably built in the 13th century by the Hohenstaufen ministerialis, William of Wimpfen. The first record of it dates to the year 1326. A nephew of William of Wimpfen called himself von Zwingenberg. Because the Zwingenbergs were robber knights, in 1363 they were driven from the castle and it was slighted in the name of the emperor. In 1403, the Lord of Hirschhorn was enfeoffed with the Zwingenberg and had it rebuilt. After his line had died out, ownership switched between the Electorate of Mainz, Electorate of the Palatinate and the Grand Duchy of Baden. The lord of the castle today is Louis (Ludwig), Prince of Baden (born 1937), a descendant of Grand Duke Charles Frederick of Baden.

Above Zwingenberg Castle are the remains of Fürstenstein Castle.

Literature

 * Jochen Pressler: Burgen und Schlösser im Rhein-Neckar-Dreieck. Alles Wissenswerte über 126 Burg- und Schloßanlagen in Nordbaden, Südhessen und der Vorderen Pfalz. 3rd expanded and revised edition. Schimper, Schwetzingen, 1996, ISBN 3-87742-097-4. pp. 98f
 * Jochen Goetze (text) and Werner Richner (photography): Burgen im Neckartal. Braus, Heidelberg, 1989, ISBN 3-925835-52-0. pp. 44ff
 * Heinrich Niester: Die Instandsetzungsarbeiten auf der Burg Zwingenberg am Neckar, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis. In: Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg, 2nd annual, 1973, Issue 2, p. 18–27. (pdf; 9.2 MB)