Lichtenstein Castle

Lichtenstein Castle is a privately owned tourist attraction built in Gothic Revival style and located in the Swabian Jura of southern Germany. It was designed by Carl Alexander Heideloff and has been described as the "fairy tale castle of Württemberg." It overlooks the Echaz valley near Honau, Reutlingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The modern castle was inspired by the novel Lichtenstein by Wilhelm Hauff and was built in 1840-1842. The ruins of the medieval castle that inspired the novel are a few hundred meters away. The name Lichtenstein translates as "shining stone."GeographyThe castle is located on an escarpment that marks the northwestern edge of the Swabian Jura. It is in the Reutlingen district and has an altitude of 817m. and about 250m above the Echaz river, a small tributary of the Neckar river. The ruins of Lichtenstein Castle's medieval predecessor, the Burg Alt-Lichtenstein, lies 500m away.