Pfählen

Bad Urach, The county of Reutlingen

Konrad Pfähler is the first member of the noble family Pfählen being mentioned in sources in 1316. Presumably, as early as the end of the 14th century, the family’s power in the so-called Elsach Valley declined, which is indicated by a number of property sales and a shift in the center of their rule. In 1421, a certain Henry Pfähler explicitly indicated that he comes from the nearby village Dettingen. He sold parts of his property in Böhringen and Dettingen. On the 29th December 1445, Agnes of Melchingen, who was Henry Pfähler’s widow, and other relatives gave their property to Count Louis of Württemberg. Nevertheless, there was still a castle in Pfählen in the middle of the 15th century, of which it is not known whether its structural conditions allowed for it to be inhabited. The following century, the castle seems to have become a ruin. A couple of buildings of the settlement Pfählen were still used. For example, in the 16th century, as a sheep farm, which existed as a stockyard until 1831.