Hundersingen

Hundersingen (Münsingen), The county of Reutlingen

The “Hochburg” or “Oberburg” (castle up on a mountain/hill) was the first of the two Hundersingen castles, and was placed in the western part of the elongated Lautertal village on the ridge of a gently sloping spur. It belonged to the Lords of Hundersingen, being probably their first castle complex in the valley Lautertal.  The Lords of Hundersingen were first mentioned around 1100. Their castle was located close to the old track to Eglingen, which was part of a long road crossing the valley Lautertal. Little is known about the castle itself. As early as the 19th century, there were only sparse remnants of the site, which has now been largely overwritten.

Pottery finds indicate that the castle was built in the first half of the 12th century. Among the finds was an enameled ornamental disc, which suggests that the inhabitants were of a higher social status. It is not possible to say exactly when the castle was abandoned. It may have lost its importance with the construction of the more recent Hohenhundersingen Castle. Today's residential buildings in the "Hochburg" area all date from the 19th/20th century. The "Breitle" area opposite was probably always an old manorial estate and may have been part of the castle's former accessories.

The former "Oberhundersingen" castle was located at the western end of the village on a gently rising spur in the Hochburg parcel just 20 m above the floodplain of the valley Lautertal. Today, almost nothing can be seen above ground of the site and the area has been largely modernized. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were still sparse remains, a mound and traces of a ditch, but these were heavily destroyed by excavation. A castle plan from the 1920s/30s shows the remains of a massive tower-like structure measuring around 9 x 12 m with 2-3 m thick walls as well as the remains of a wall on the valley side and a ditch on the mountain side.

There are therefore only a few clues as to the appearance of the former castle complex. Summarizing these, the core of the complex could have been a massive tower-like structure built in stone (possibly a residential tower), which could have been connected to a kind of walled forecourt. A rock ditch may have shielded the hillside, while the steep slope to the Lautertal offered sufficient protection to the north.