Burg Sternenfels, Medieval castle ruins in Sternenfels, Germany

Burg Sternenfels is a vanished hill castle on the 375-metre Schlossberg above Sternenfels in the Enzkreis district. Only its rampart and ditch survive; the castle itself was built of white Stubensandstein and demolished between 1778 and 1780. A 14-metre water tower with an observation platform, styled like a bergfried, now stands on the hilltop.

Local nobility built this stronghold in the early 13th century, with the first written record appearing in 1232. Over the following centuries, its role shifted several times before the site fell into decline.

The castle gave its name to the Lords of Sternenfels, the local noble family first mentioned in 1232. In the 17th century it no longer housed nobles but served as the seat of a forest ranger and as a prison for poachers. The water tower built in 1967 holds an exhibition on the family and on the geology of the Stromberg and Heuchelberg hills.

The site is reached by a path up the 375-metre Schlossberg; only the rampart and ditch of the castle remain. The 14-metre water tower, built in 1967 in the style of a bergfried, has an observation platform and an exhibition on the lords of Sternenfels and local geology. Sturdy shoes help on the uneven slope.

The viewing tower on the Schlossberg is not the original: the first one, built in 1866, became unsafe and was blown up in 1966. The following year a 14-metre water tower with a viewing platform, styled like a bergfried, was erected in its place.