Burg Neugutenstein, Castle ruin in Sigmaringen, Germany

Burg Neugutenstein is a medieval castle ruin perched on an isolated rock needle at 660 meters elevation near Sigmaringen, Germany. Preserved portions include sections of a residential tower and lower fortress walls that hint at the original structure.

First documented in 1354, the castle belonged to Burkhard von Reischach as a fief from Duke Albert of Austria. It served as a regional fortification for centuries before being eventually abandoned.

The castle was first called Niedergutenstein and only later Gebrochen Gutenstein, a name recorded in a 1659 exchange document with Kloster Laiz. The ruin passed by marriage to the Truchsessen von Waldburg zu Scheer around 1530 and in 1783 to Prince Karl Friedrich von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. A Gothic window or door arch on the rock was visible from the Donautal road for decades before a storm brought it down in mid-January 2008.

The ruin stands on a rock needle on the left edge of the Danube valley, above the road from Sigmaringen to Beuron, between Inzigkofen station and Inzigkofen-Dietfurt. The rock top lies at about 660 metres, roughly 80 metres above the Danube at 577 metres. Only the main castle sat on the rock; the economic courtyard stood on the adjoining plateau.

The fortress was divided into two distinct areas: the main castle built on the rock and an adjacent economic courtyard for daily work. This arrangement shows how medieval occupants separated living quarters from functional spaces for farming and maintenance.