Ödenburg, Medieval castle ruins on Spitzberg Mountain near Tübingen, Germany.
Ödenburg is a vanished spur castle on the Spitzberg ridge between Tübingen and Hirschau, at about 427 metres elevation. Almost nothing remains: only the ground profile hints at the former layout, notably a bush- and tree-covered rise marked by a weathered memorial stone. The site lies within the Spitzberg-Ödenburg nature reserve.
The castle was destroyed in 1291 by Albrecht von Hohenberg, but was rebuilt a year later by Count Gottfried I of Böblingen. Its abandonment came in 1310, only two decades after its reconstruction.
The name Ödenburg comes from Old High German and refers to the abandoned nature of the place. Visitors can understand why this name was chosen when walking among the sparse remains today.
The site is reachable via a forest path that branches from the main trail behind Spitzberg's summit and leads to a memorial stone. Visitors should expect uneven ground and limited visibility of remains.
The zoo was run by Eugen Mannheim (1879–1974) from 1907 to 1914 under the name Tiergarten Tübingen, with an attached restaurant. In the 1950s a summer café, the Café am Spitzberg, operated right next door. Near the memorial stone today stands a bench with an iron Jugendstil table whose marble top has disappeared.
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