Burgstall Edelburg, Burgstall (former hilltop castle) in Gärtringen, Germany

Burgstall Edelburg is a former hilltop castle site at 510 m above sea level, 2,500 m northwest of Gärtringen on the western edge of the Gärtringer valley. What remains is a roundish castle mound about 20 m across, surrounded by a circular moat still roughly four metres deep, with rubble mounds on the mound containing wall remains.

The castle was first documented in 1468 as Odlerholtz in the Lagerbuch der Kellerei Herrenberg, though it had been built earlier. In the 15th and 16th centuries it belonged to the noble Harder family, and from 1583 to 1640 to the municipality of Gärtringen. It was probably abandoned in the 16th century.

Locals call the site Hodlenburg, while the 1468 Herrenberg cellar ledger records it as Odlerholtz. From 1583 to 1640 the abandoned castle belonged to the municipality of Gärtringen, which still owns the ground today. Look for the roughly four-metre-deep circular ditch cut into the western edge of the Gärtringer valley.

The ruins lie roughly 2.5 kilometers northwest of Gärtringen and can be located with navigation tools. The site is accessible on foot or by car, though visitors should note it remains an open archaeological site.

The name Odlerholtz, recorded in the 1468 Lagerbuch der Kellerei Herrenberg, is the earliest written mention of the site, although the castle itself was built earlier. Locals also call it Hodlenburg. The round moat, still about four metres deep, is the feature to look for.