Germany · Ruin
Hochburg
Hochburg (formerly Hachberg) is a medieval hilltop castle ruin in Baden, Germany, originating in the 11th–12th centuries and historically the seat of the Margraves of Baden-Hachberg. Heavily enlarged in the 16th–17th centuries with bastions and renaissance-era living ranges, it was demolished in the late 17th century and survives today as a preserved ruin open to visitors.
First raised
1127
Its prime
1660
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1660
What Hochburg looked like in its prime.
As it stood in its prime, Hochburg presented a compact hilltop fortress of coarse reddish-beige masonry: a long multi-storey residential range punctuated by regular rectangular window openings, a taller square central tower rising above the main façade with a large banner, continuous curtain walls linking projecting angular bastions, and an inner courtyard enclosed by roofed ranges; roofs covered in steep gabled tiles and protective battlement walks ran along the walls.
Its story
The story of Hochburg.
The Hochburg — originally castle Hachberg — was presumably built in the eleventh century between Emmendingen and Sexau in Baden; Dietrich von Emmendingen, who later called himself von Hachberg, most likely founded it to harvest the surrounding forests for lumber. The castle gave its name to an entire line of nobles: the Margraves of Baden-Hachberg, a side branch of the house of Baden.
By 1161 Hermann IV von Baden was reigning lord of castle Hachberg, and from 1212 to 1415 the Margraves of Baden-Hachberg ruled from the Hochburg — two centuries that ended when Margrave Bernhard I of the main family of Baden acquired the castle from the highly indebted Otto II, last Margrave of Baden-Hachberg.
Enlarged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with bastions and Renaissance living ranges, the Hochburg became the second largest fortification in Baden before the French razed it in the late seventeenth century. A volunteer conservation society has cared for the ruin since 1971 and bought the tenancy of the castle in 2007.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1660.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Hochburg — including 1 interior: vaulted cellar beneath the residential range. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Create History
Recreate Hochburg with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1660 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Whose castle
Clans who held Hochburg.
The families that held Hochburg for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Baden-Hachberg
The Margraves of Baden-Hachberg, who took their name from the castle, ruled from the Hochburg from 1212 to 1415.
Baden
Margrave Bernhard I of the main line of Baden acquired the castle in 1415 from the indebted Otto II.
