Wiesneck Castle

Buchenbach, Germany, Germany

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Wiesneck Castle (German: Burg Wiesneck) is a ruined medieval hill castle located in the village of Wiesneck within the municipality of Buchenbach in the Southern Black Forest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Perched at 537 meters above sea level on a hill at the entrance to the Höllental, Wagensteig, and Unteribental valleys, the castle occupied a strategically important position guarding the road through the Wagensteigbach valley up to Thurner and controlling key mountain routes across the Black Forest. 

First mentioned in written records in 1079, the castle was originally in the possession of the Counts of Haigerloch, and in 1096 Count Adalberg of Haigerloch became the first person to name himself after the castle as "von Haigerloch-Wiesneck". Built on the edge of the territory of the ruling Zähringen family, the castle's lords became direct rivals of this powerful dynasty, and the site was significant enough that the young Frederick Barbarossa once spent a night there during a journey from Freiburg to St. Peter. 

The family of the Counts of Haigerloch-Wiesneck died out in 1170, after which the castle passed to the Counts of Hohenberg, who sold it in 1293. During the Peasants' War, rebellious peasants under Hans von Bulgenbach overran and destroyed the castle, though it was partially rebuilt shortly afterward.