Lichtenstein Castle
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Lichtenstein Castle is a fairy-tale styled castle located near Honau in the Swabian Alb, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its self-descriptive name English means "light (colored) stone."
Historically there has been a castle on the site since around 1200. It was twice destroyed, once in the Reichskriegs war of 1311 and again by the city-state of Reutlingen in 1381. The castle was not reconstructed and subsequently fell to ruin.
In 1802 the land came into the hands of King Frederick I of Württemberg, who built a hunting lodge there. By 1837 the land had passed to his nephew Duke Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg, who, inspired by Wilhelm Hauff's novel Lichtenstein [1], added the current castle in 1840–42. The romantic Neo-Gothic design of the castle was created by the architect Carl Alexander Heideloff.
Today the castle is still owned by the Dukes of Urach, but is open to visitors.
[edit] See also
- Fog Cave (Nebelhöhle) the nearby show caves are associated with the castle and also described in Hauff's novel Lichtenstein.
- Neuschwanstein
- Liechtenstein Castle in Austria - unrelated castle of a similar name
[edit] External links
