Burg Roggenbach, Medieval castle in Wittlekofen, Germany.
Burg Roggenbach is a medieval fortress in Wittlekofen perched on a hilltop at about 675 meters elevation. The ruins display two substantial defensive towers built with shaped stone and very thick walls, along with preserved foundation remains.
Built before 1100 by the Counts of Nellenburg, the castle was first mentioned in 1288 in a sale. Its two towers belonged at times to different knightly families, and the climbable southern tower is called Grüningen. Austrian troops under Werner von Staufen destroyed the castle in 1438; it was partly rebuilt in 1443 but called only a ruin by 1482. In 1525, during the Peasants' War, remaining farm buildings were destroyed.
The two towers belonged to different knightly families at times, which is why the climbable one is called Grüningen and the other Weissenburg, after the Krenkingen family's ancestral seat near Weisweil. Johann von Krenkingen-Weissenburg used the castle as a base for raids on the St. Blasien monastery lands and was excommunicated by the Council of Basel for it.
The ruins sit on a hilltop and are reachable by hiking trails that vary in difficulty depending on your starting point. Visitors should bring sturdy footwear since the terrain is uneven and the rubble can be tricky to navigate.
The two towers belonged to different knightly families at times, which is why the climbable southern one is called Grüningen while the other is named Weissenburg, after the Krenkingen family's ancestral castle near Weisweil in the Klettgau. A link between the castle and the Barons of Roggenbach is not documented and is rejected by recent scholarship; their seat was at Unterkirnach.
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