Burg Schenkenstein, Medieval castle ruins in Aufhausen, Germany.

Burg Schenkenstein is castle ruins sitting on a rocky spur about 1,880 feet (573 meters) high, encircled by three filled moats and defensive walls. The site contains remaining stone walls and a distinctive round tower that stands out when viewed from a distance.

Around 1230 the lords of Stein sold the fortress to Hartmann von Dillingen, Bishop of Augsburg; by 1263 it was back in their hands and then passed to the Counts of Oettingen, who installed the Schenken von Ehringen as ministerials. In 1410 Georg Schenk von Stein opened the castle to the imperial city of Nördlingen for 200 guilders. In 1525 rebellious peasants stormed it during the German Peasants' War, leaving it uninhabitable and abandoned.

The castle takes its name from the Schenken von Ehringen, a family of ministeriales installed by the Counts of Oettingen; they renamed themselves Schenken von Stein after the fief. The line died out in 1902 with Max von Stein in South Tyrol. Below the ruin lies a Jewish cemetery, probably laid out in the 16th century, with 363 gravestones still standing; the last burial there was in 1940.

You can reach the ruins by walking through forest paths, though the final climb is steep and crosses rough unpaved ground. Sturdy shoes and extra time for the ascent are needed to safely get to the site.

The tower's round-bowed entrance lies in its upper third on the southwest side, where the rubble core of the wall stands exposed. The facing was partly rebuilt in recent decades: the original dark bossed ashlar survives on the north and east, and the lighter replacement stones are easy to tell apart. The tower is still about 16 metres high with an outer diameter of roughly 8 metres.