Hohenstaufen Castle
| Hohenstaufen Castle | |
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| Hohenstaufen, Göppingen, Germany | |
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View from the castle ruins
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 Hohenstaufen
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| Coordinates | 48°44′35″N 9°42′58″E / 48.743°N 9.716°E |
| Type | Castle |
| Site information | |
| Open to the public |
Yes |
| Condition | Ruin |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1050 - 1079 |
| In use | 1079 - 1525 |
| Materials | Stone |
| Demolished | 1525 |
| Battles/wars | Peasants War |
Hohenstaufen Castle (German: Burg Hohenstaufen) is a ruin, lying above the Hohenstaufen locality, today part of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The hill castle was seat of the now-defunct House of Hohenstaufen.
Hohenstaufen Castle can be found on Hohenstaufen Mountain, 684 m (2,244 ft) above sea level. The word Stauf means "drinking vessel" (beaker or cup) and refers to the conical shape of the mountain.
Hohenstaufen castle was built about 1070 by Frederick I of Hohenstaufen—even before he became Duke of Swabia—, as a fortress to protect family interests in the vicinity. Until the 13th century, the castle was a possession of the imperial and royal family, the Hohenstaufen dynasty. In 1181, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa stayed there; in 1208, Irene Angelina, the widow of Barbarossa's son, the recently murdered Philip of Swabia, died at Hohenstaufen Castle.
After the fall of the Hohenstaufen in 1268, the castle was declared an imperial possession by the Habsburg king Rudolf I of Germany. The strategically and symbolically important location was a constant bone of contention between the Counts of Württemberg and the Holy Roman Emperor.
In 1372, Hohenstaufen Castle finally was in the hands of the Württemberg rulers. After the expulsion of Duke Ulrich of Württemberg by the members of the Swabian League in 1519, one Georg Staufer of Bloßenstaufen successfully claimed the castle, as a descendant of the old Hohenstaufen dynasty. Therefore, only a small force defended the castle in 1525, when it was taken and destroyed by insurgents during the German Peasants' War. Stones from the castle were later used in the construction of the Renaissance Göppingen Castle.
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Wikipedia