Leonrod Castle, Dietenhofen, Germany

The Leonrod water castle was built in the 13th century as the family seat and Ganerbenburg of the lords of Leonrod, who were descended from the lords of Buttendorf, in order to protect an important road link to the city of Nuremberg. The castle was first mentioned in 1235 with a Rudolf miles de Lewenrode.

In the 14th and 16th centuries structural changes were made to the castle. The castle survived the Thirty Years' War unscathed, but shortly afterwards, in 1651, it burned down as a result of negligence - attempts to burn off vegetation in the moat got out of hand - and it was never rebuilt. In the 17th and 18th century a hunting lodge was built. The castle is owned today by a community of heirs that go back to the aristocratic line that died out in 1951.

One of the members of the nobile family was Franz Leopold, Baron of Leonrod, who was Bishop of Eichstätt from 1867 to 1905 and is one of the most important bishops of this diocese.

This castle is surrounded by a deep moat. It has four buildings around a rectangular 20-metre-high bergfried with an elevated entrance, 9 metres above ground level. The bergfried has a ground plan 6 x 6 metres in area and a wall thickness of about 2 metres. In the outer ward is the castle chapel, St. George's, which dates to 1327, and the hunting lodge with its hipped roof and timber-framed upper storey. Today, the castle still has the almost fully preserved bergfried, considerable wall remains, vaults, the castle well in the courtyard and an outlying tower.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Nataly M. (9 months ago)
it would be nice to restore it, for preserve history. Now it is in disrepair

Jeremy Figueroa (10 months ago)
Hi, I'm American living in Germany, my wife wanted to do a maternity photo shoot and after much consideration of the local area we chose this place. We came in the fall in late October and it was beautiful. The ruins are a bit scary there's a sign warning of falling stones but there is small rooms still standing and the walls sit perfectly in with the nature. Highly recommend for a quick visit if your bored or like castles.

Malina A (2 years ago)
Even if u can't go any near the ruins, the place overall is really nice to go for a chill walk.

james wright (4 years ago)
Beautiful quiet place. Nice walking trails

Goz Gozeruuu (Gozu) (4 years ago)
A little hard to find but very nice. Need to be very careful because when is wet, you can slide very easy and fall.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright discopalace

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Sigmaringen Castle

Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.

The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.

These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.

Leonrod Castle

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