Güssenburg Castle

Güssenburg Castle is a ruined castle on a hill near Hermaringen in Heidenheim County in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was built around 1346, during the High Middle Ages and much of the curtain wall and keep remain.LocationThe ruin sits an elevation of about 500m above sea level and about 50m above the floor of the Brenz valley. The castle hill, known as the Schloßberg, is very steep on the north, west and east sides which made it an ideal location for a fortification.HistoryBerg Güssenburg was the ancestral seat of the House of Güssenberg, which was later known as the Güß von Güssenberg. The family was quite large and eventually ruled over many castles and communities in the region, including Brenz an der Brenz, Haunsheim and Leipheim. Because of the numerous branches of the family the entire Güssenberg family was generally known under the name of Güssen. The family ruled as Ministerialis or unfree knight in the service of another noble. Initially the Ministerialis ruled a fief for a noble, but could not inherit the fief. However, by the 13th century the fiefs had become much more heritable. The Güssen served as ministerialis for the Diepoldinger and later the Hohenstaufen families.