Burgruine Hofen

Grabenstetten, Germany, Germany

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Burgruine Hofen is the ruins of a medieval spur castle located on a steep 670-meter-high rock promontory east of Grabenstetten in the Reutlingen district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where the rock falls nearly vertically about 30 meters into the Schlattstaller Tal valley on three sides.

Built in the 13th century, certainly before 1323, the castle served as the ancestral seat of the Schwenzlin family, who were ministerials (knightly servants) of the Lords of Teck and first documented in 1275 as "Schwenzlin von Hofen" after their castle. The castle was destroyed and fell into ruin after 1478, mentioned in 1535 in connection with an Alexander Chapel, called a ruin in 1553, and in 1595 a forest servant was commissioned to demolish it.

Today only a small remnant of wall remains, and the gate and wall at the neck ditch were reconstructed in 1986, as the site is more accurately described as a Burgstall (abandoned castle site) than a true ruin. The castle is freely accessible via a marked hiking trail from Grabenstetten's Hofener Weg to a small parking lot near the wastewater treatment plant, then 100 meters to the ruins, and visitors who approach the cliff edge are rewarded with beautiful views into the Schlattstaller Tal valley.