Burg Schweinberg

Hardheim, Germany, Germany

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Burg Schweinberg, also known as Schweinburg, is a medieval spur castle ruin located in the Schweinberg district of Hardheim in the Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the eastern Odenwald region.

The castle was probably built in the 11th century and first mentioned in 1127 with "Wolfram de Sweneburc", though the noble family of Schweinberg appears in records as early as 1098. After the death of the last family member in 1167, ownership passed to the Lords of Dürn, Boxberg, and the Counts of Wertheim, who were vassals of the Bishop of Würzburg.

In 1437, the castle was severely damaged after an eleven-day siege by Würzburg troops using a large cannon that breached the wall. The castle finally became a ruin following the Thirty Years' War and was subsequently used as a quarry for centuries until 1871. Today, the main remaining feature is an approximately 15-meter-high stump of the square bergfried (tower) with characteristic herringbone masonry and four-meter-thick walls measuring 11 meters on each side.

A significant Romanesque double-arched window from the original fortress is now housed in the Baden State Museum in Karlsruhe. The ruin sits on a striking Muschelkalk limestone spur about 30 meters above the village and is freely accessible year-round around the clock, with parking available in Schweinberg village center. The site is designated as a geopoint of the UNESCO Geo-Nature Park Bergstraße-Odenwald.