Top castles in Baden-Wurttemberg

Hohenzollern Castle in Baden-Württemburg

Burg Hohenzollern. (Photo by A. Kniesel)

From craggy medieval fortresses to baroque palaces, these are the best castles in southwest Germany

These mighty bastions of the feudal past contain fine art and 18th century fashions, medieval weapons and crown jewels, fascinating history and fabulous views—and you can even spend the night in a few of them. (Jump down to the castle-hotels.)

Top Swabian and Black Forest castles to visit

Hohenzollern ★★★

The Hohenzollern is the picture-postcard castle of southwestern Germany, all spires and turrets atop a forested mountain peak... » more

Heidelberg ★★

This Romantically crumbling castle rambling across a forested hillside above the city offers a fascinating glimpse into castle architecture from the 13th through 16th centuries... » more

Lichtenstein ★

Lichtenstein Castle, rising out of a sheer cliff face above a stream-fed valley in the Swabian Jura, is one of those postcard-perfect Romantic-era castles built in the 19th century... » more

Ludwigsburg ★

The pale-yellow baroque quadrangle of the main palace was built in 1719–33 by Donato Giuseppe Frisoni to house the ducal court in the best Baroque and Rococo frippery ducal money could buy. Frescoed ceilings, crystal chandeliers, parquet floors, and a Neoclassical theater (with the world's first revolving stage) fill the 452 rooms... » more

Waldburg ★

Waldburg Castle, on a hill above Swabian farm country, is one of the homiest castles you can tour, and it comes with a surprising American connection... » more

Meersburg Castle ★

The oldest inhabited castle in Germany has great arms and armor collection—and a baroque Neue Schloss neighbor... » more

Karlesruhe

More of a palace than a castle—and rebuilt inside after war damage—this baroque pile contains an excellent museum of Western history from a local perspective, from the age of the Neanderthals through the ancient world, Middle Ages, and up to today... » more

Castle hotels in Baden-Württemberg

Schlosshotel Hirschhorn ★★★

Crumbling 13th-century walls extend from the high castle ramparts past grassy lawns right down into the red roofs of the village below, and sparrow hawks coast on the thermals below the castle windows, their keening calls mingling with the distant rush of the Neckar River. The eight rooms in the main castle building have more character and better river views than the (slightly cheaper) 17 modern rooms in the Marstall. [€€]... » more » book

Schlosshotel Götzenburg ★★★

The exterior and many public spaces of this 15th-century castle in a forest above the village of Jagsthausen near the Romantic Road look and feel wonderfully period. The rooms—though nice—are fairly modern. Go for a canopy or four-poster bed in the main castle rather than one of the blander rooms in the side building. [€€] » book

Hotel Burg Hornberg ★★★

This is the 11th century castle hotel you want to send postcards home from just to make your friends jealous. Perched amid vineyards above a bend in the Necker River, its four-star rooms are largely modern but with the occasional antique armoire, beamed ceiling, or period-appropriate canopy bed. Good restaurant-with-a-view, too. [€€] » book

Schloss Weitenburg ★★

This refurbished 11th century castle above the Neckar River village of Starzach is well-sited between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, its rooms a period mishmash of Renaissance, baroque, and Neo-Gothic. [€€] » book

Schloss Eberstein ★★

You gotta love a Neo-Gothic castle surrounded by its own vineyard that's also a four-star hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant. The rooms, with views over the Murgtal valley town of Gernsbach, are posh and modern, though some part of the castle date back to its origins in the 13th century, with additions and restructuring going right through the 1800s. [€€] » more

Schloss Neutrauchburg ★★

Just 13 spacious, stylish, contemporary rooms in a gorgeous 18th century Schloss in the Allgäu countryside east of Lake Constance toward Bavaria that was built by the counts of the Waldburg-Zeil branch of the Waldburg family. [€€] » book

Schlosshotel Liebenstein ★

The foundation dates to the 11th century, but this castle on a hilltop between Stuttgart and Heilbronn is largely Renaissance. Some rooms feel somewhat period with dark woods and chandeliers; others are modern. Oddly enough, it is also a golf resort. [€€] » book

Hotel Schloss Hornberg ★

This Black Forest castle hotel rises above the Gutachtal Valley, an incorporates the original 1120 castle tower built by the Hornburg Dukes. The rooms are simple, modular, and comfy, and it gets a star for being among the cheapest of the state's castle-hotels, with double rooms starting at just €89. [€]... » book

Burg Katzenstein ★

The rooms are blandly modern and functional (with the occasional exposed stone wall for atmosphere), but they cost less than €100—and the 12th century castle itself: Wow! It's just postcard-perfect. [€]... » book