Castle Ruins in Stuttgartmonkeysandmountains.com /castle-ruins- in-stuttgart

I woke up on Sunday morning and decided I wanted to visit a castle.

Fortunately living in Germany, there’s no shortage of castles and it’s not that difficult to turn this thought into a reality. What did surprise me though was that we found one – or what remained of one, Burgruine Hofen (Castle ruin Hofen) 6kmfrom our apartment in the NE district of Hofen Neugereut in Stuttgart, which also happens to be the only castle ruin inStuttgart.

No one knows exactly when

An ar tis t’s dep iction o f how Cas tle Hofen looked in 1120

No one knows exactly whenCastle Hofen was built, but thereare records referring to it as farback as 1120. Castle Hofen wasbuilt beside the Neckar River toward off enemy attacks on thevillage which was next to thecastle. On the other side of theriver was another similar castlebuilt next to another village forthe same purpose.

Unfortunately nothing remains ofthe castle on the other side ofthe river. Castle Hofen is nowreferred to as a castle ruin sinceit was largely destroyed in the 30year war from 1618 – 1648. Above are what remains ofCastle Hofen today, the onlycastle ruin in Stuttgart!

It was clear that Castle Hofenmeant business. Throughout thecastle were many smallopenings for guards to shoot atenemies, but the small holesmade it difficult for enemies toshoot back.

We may think of recycling as anew concept but it’s been aroundsince at least 1783, when part ofthe castle ruins were used tobuild a wall around the Church ofSt. Barbara which stands next tothe castle ruins of Hofen.

In many ways, life has changedlittle since 1120. Castle Hofenwas built right beside a villageand today it’s possible to live

The cas tle ru ins o f Hofen, the on ly cas tle ru ins in Stu ttgar t

right beside the castle ruins ofHofen. As soon as I saw this Iimmediately began looking for“For Rent” signs in apartmentwindows, much to my Germanfiance’s chagrin, who didn’tsee why we would leave anapartment we’re happy in, tolive beside castle ruins. Unfortunately I didn’t see any“For Rent” signs, but I haven’tgiven up my search yet!

As if discovering that castleruins existed so close to myhome wasn’t enough, we alsofound there was a lovelywalking path along the NeckarRiver. On the other side of theNeckar River are vineyards. Castle ruins and wine? Thiswas turning out to be a verygood day!

We also discovered a Germanrestaurant along the NeckarRiver overlooking Max-EythLake. The views can’t be beatand the cappuccinos weredivine, but overpriced. Fortunately there are also picnic spots along the Neckar

Guards would s hoot a t enem ies from s m al l open ings found throughout Cas tle Hofen

Riversoyoucanbringyourownlunchif

Cas tle ru ins get a new l i fe

Living bes ide the cas tle ru ins o f Hofen

Vineyards l ine the o ther s ide o f the r iver bank acros s from the Hofen cas tle ru ins

Res taurant near the cas tle ru ins

desired. When I woke up I was hoping to see a castle, but as the events of the day unfolded, not only did I get a castleruin, but one close to my house in a beautiful setting in a new part of Stuttgart that I hadn’t been too. Do Sundays getany better than this?

What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday?

About Laurel

Laurel Robbins is a free-spirited adventurer, award-winning travel blogger at Monkeys and MountainsAdventure Travel Blog. Many hats, one travel obsessed Canadian in Germany.