Teck, Medieval castle in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany

Teck is a castle complex on the Teckberg ridge at 773 meters, south of Kirchheim unter Teck. Its buildings date from the 19th and 20th centuries: a 31-meter observation tower with a dark conical roof, a long hall with a red tiled roof and arched windows, and a lower round tower, all of pale grey and cream stone above the Lauter valley.

Teck Castle is first documented in a 1152 contract, though the Nellenburg family probably built it in the last quarter of the 11th century. The Zähringen inherited it and from 1187 passed it to a cadet line that took the title Dukes of Teck. In 1303 and 1381 the dukes sold their halves to the Habsburgs and the Counts of Württemberg. The castle was destroyed on 3 May 1525 during the Peasants' War.

The name Teck passed to the British royal house: Duke Francis of Teck's daughter Mary became queen consort to King George V. Since 1941 the Schwäbischer Albverein has run the site, and the Mörikehalle, built in 1933, serves as a hiking hostel with restaurant and sleeping rooms.

The tower and hiking hostel stand on the summit of the Teckberg at 773 metres, reached on foot from Kirchheim unter Teck or Owen. The Schwäbische Albverein runs the Wanderheim with its restaurant and sleeping rooms; the 31-metre Teckturm, rebuilt in 1955, is climbed for the view. The surrounding area has been a nature reserve since 9 November 1999.

The 31-metre Teckturm observation tower was inaugurated on 1 September 1889 on the foundations of the medieval keep. In May 2010 a Staufer-era tower stump collapsed; it was secured in 2013 but deliberately not rebuilt in its original form.