Burg Tannenfels, Medieval castle ruins in Obertal, Germany

Burg Tannenfels is a castle ruin in the Black Forest near Obertal, with stone walls that reveal medieval construction methods and defensive design. The structure sits on a slope overlooking the surrounding valleys and the forested terrain below.

The visible remains of the tower castle were built in the first half of the 13th century, but pottery finds and an older ditch indicate a castle on the rock as early as the 11th or early 12th century. That earlier structure was completely removed for the later rebuild. The castle was short-lived: in the first half of the 14th century it fell to a fire, possibly during a military conflict, as three arrowheads from a burnt layer suggest. No noble family is known to have been associated with it; a family von Tannenfels linked to the ruin actually held lands in the Allgäu.

No noble family is known to have held the castle, and the Tannenfels family linked to the ruin in older literature actually sat in the Allgäu, near Eglofs and Isny, with no connection to this Murgtal site. A 1624 entry in Johannes Öttinger's Württemberg land book speculated it was a robber baron's castle because of its wild location. A legend tells of an underground passage whose opening was once visible in the tower and is now buried.

The best time to visit is from spring through fall when the trails are dry and easier to walk. Sturdy footwear is essential since the path to the ruins involves climbing and uneven ground.

The tower's irregular footprint and the absence of any ring wall are explained by the site: the sandstone rock drops vertically ten to twelve metres on all sides. The visible masonry was built in the first half of the 13th century, but pottery finds and an older ditch point to a castle here in the 11th or early 12th century, cleared away for the later tower.