Burg Krautheim, Medieval castle in Krautheim, Germany

Burg Krautheim is a medieval castle ruin set on a rocky outcrop above the town of Krautheim in northern Baden-Württemberg. Its remaining walls and towers rise above the Jagst river valley and can be seen clearly from the town below.

The castle was begun around 1172, possibly by a cleric named Godefridus, and completed in 1213 by Wolfrad I of Krautheim. In the 14th century it passed to the Archbishopric of Mainz, which held it until secularisation in 1802. It was destroyed in the Peasants' War of 1525 and later rebuilt as a palace under Mainz archbishops Johann Schweikhard von Cronberg and Lothar Franz von Schönborn.

The castle's name and the town's share a root with "Kraut," and the site gave its name to the noble Krautheim family, whose three brothers Wolfrat, Crato and Konrad expanded the complex around 1200. A Götz memorial stone marks the spot where, in 1516, Götz von Berlichingen shouted his coarse retort at the Mainz official Max Stumpf; Goethe later used the phrase in his play. Since 1983 the Deutsche Burgenvereinigung has run a castle museum in the palas, showing models of the complex.

The ruin is within walking distance from the town center and can be reached by marked footpaths. It is worth checking access conditions before visiting, as entry may depend on the season or ongoing work at the site.

In 1516 Götz von Berlichingen shouted a coarse insult at Max Stumpf, the Mainz official residing in the castle. A memorial stone marks the spot, and Goethe later used the phrase in his play, though the drama departs from the historical record.