Willenburg

The Willenburg, also called the Schlössle, is a ruined hill castle near Schiltach in the county of Rottweil in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.LocationThe castle lies around 2 kilometres outside Schiltach at above the old pass road to Rottweil, the so-called Schiltacher Steige, in the direction of Aichhalden in the Black Forest.HistoryThe ruin is the remmant of a high medieval castle that had been forgotten, but was rediscovered in 1959 by the Friends of Nature from Schiltach following speculation of its existence. It was probably built around 1100, its owners initially being either the first dukes of Tech, who were a side line of the House of Zähringen, or even the dukes of Zähringen, themselves.The Willenburg was built to cater for travellers. Road tolls were raised here as the old transport route over to Rottweil was monitored here.So the Willenburg may also be seen as the predecessor to the castle and town of Schiltach, which took on these functions in 1250. A town with its associated castle was able to carry out these tasks more effectively.From that time the Willenburg fell into decay.