Burg Staufen, Medieval castle ruins in Staufen im Breisgau, Germany

Burg Staufen is a medieval castle ruin on a hill above the town of Staufen im Breisgau in Baden-Württemberg. What remains today are stone walls and foundations that once formed a defensive fortress overlooking the surrounding vineyards and the Black Forest.

The Lords of Staufen built the castle in the early 12th century; Adalbert von Staufen erected the castle house around 1100, and a document of 1248 first names it. In 1327 and 1337 Freiburg acquired shares and an opening right, and by 1400 Staufen passed to Vorderösterreich. Swedish troops took the undefended castle in the Thirty Years War and burned it in 1632; the town bought the ruin in 1896.

The name of the healer and alchemist Johann Georg Faust is tied to Staufen: Anton von Staufen is thought to have hired him as a gold-maker, a common arrangement in the Renaissance. Faust died in 1539 in his room at the Staufen inn Zum Löwen, probably in a chemical explosion. The castle itself was already empty by 1607.

The ruins are reached by marked hiking trails from the town center, with the walk up taking around half an hour. The path is steep in places, so sturdy shoes make the climb more comfortable.

The castle hill, the 375-metre Schlossberg, held a Roman-era watchtower before the castle existed, as finds and excavations indicate. The town of Staufen bought the ruin from the Mentzingen family in 1896 and had it renovated, again in 1954 and 1960. Of the castle, the surrounding walls still stand.