Wildenstein Castle, Medieval castle in Leibertingen, Germany

Wildenstein Castle is a spur castle on a steep rock about 200 metres above the Danube, a few kilometres downstream from Beuron. Both the main castle and the outer ward sit on artificially scarped rock and are reached only by bridges. A 20-metre-long neck ditch cuts across the full width of the castle.

Wildenstein Castle was built in the 13th century, succeeding a chain of four earlier rock castles erected by the Lords of Wildenstein between 1100 and 1200. In 1397/98 Johannes the Elder of Zimmern received half as a fief; his family acquired the whole castle by 1462. Gottfried Werner von Zimmern had it rebuilt from 1514 into an early modern fortress, completed in 1554. After the Zimmern line died out in 1594, it passed to the Helfenstein-Gundelfingen family and in 1627 to the House of Fürstenberg.

Inside the castle, large Renaissance wall paintings from 1538 to 1540 show flower tendrils and bird motifs. One cycle depicts the entire Sigenot saga, a medieval heroic epic. The paintings are not in a main keep but in the castle rooms.

The castle is run by the German Youth Hostel Association (Deutsches Jugendherbergswerk) as a hostel. It stands on a steep rock about 200 metres above the Danube, a few kilometres downstream of Beuron. The main castle and outer ward sit on artificially abraded rocks and are reached only by bridges.

The 20-metre-long neck ditch, originally as deep, cut across the full width of the castle and was already admired by early visitors; Matthäus Merian recorded it in his famous engraving. Both the main castle and the outer ward sit on artificially scarped rock and are reached only by bridges.