Burg Rosenstein, Medieval castle ruin near Heubach, Germany

Burg Rosenstein is a castle ruin standing on a rocky spur near Heubach, characterized by stone fragments and wall remains. The remains display both the outer and inner fortification structures of the medieval military installation.

The castle was first mentioned in a 1282/83 deed of Count Ludwig V of Oettingen, naming Hainricus de Rosenstein; the lords of the castle held it as fiefs of the Counts of Oettingen. By 1360 at the latest, Burg Rosenstein and Heubach were pledged to Württemberg, but after a defeat at Schorndorf in 1360 Eberhard II had to cede the pledge to Emperor Charles IV. In 1377 the castle and town were pledged back to Württemberg for 20,000 guilders.

The ruins display the features of a medieval fortification that once served as a seat of regional power. Visitors can observe the remnants of defensive structures and understand how such castles protected and controlled the surrounding land.

The ruin lies about 1,500 metres east of Heubach on the Rosenstein spur at roughly 686 metres. The outer and main castle are freely accessible; the main castle is entered over a cast-iron footbridge built in 1892 in place of the former drawbridge. Below the site is the Kleine Scheuer cave.

After the castle was abandoned, its stones were quarried by Heubach residents and used as building material. This prolonged extraction process shaped the ruin's fragmented appearance and explains why so little remains today.