Germany · Ruin
Sausenburg Castle
Sausenburg Castle is a ruined medieval hill castle on the Sausenberg, north of Kandern in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Built in the 13th century for the lords of Sausenburg, it was largely destroyed in 1678; today a circular earthwork, a single cylindrical tower and several wall fragments remain on the wooded hilltop.
First raised
1246
Its prime
1500
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1500
What Sausenburg Castle looked like in its prime.
At its prime the site was dominated by a single tall cylindrical bergfried of grey-brown rubble stone at one end, linked by continuous curtain walls of the same coarse masonry to higher wall sections and a circular earthen rampart; openings include narrow slits and larger arched window/door apertures now truncated. The castle crowns a steep, grassy, tree-studded sandstone hill (Sausenberg) and presents a raw, irregular stone silhouette against the skyline.
Its story
The story of Sausenburg Castle.
Sausenburg Castle was the stronghold of the lords of Sausenburg, built on the 665-metre Sausenberg on the edge of the Black Forest, north of Kandern between Sitzenkirch and Malsburg-Marzell. The counts of Hachberg acquired the property from the monastery in 1232, and in 1306 the counts founded the Sausenberg dynasty.
In 1315 Liuthold II of Roetteln, the last male member of his dynasty, bestowed Roetteln on the counts of Hachberg-Sausenberg, who moved to Rötteln Castle and established their vogts on the Sausenberg. When John, the last of the counts of Freiburg, bestowed Badenweiler on the margraves of Hachberg-Sausenberg in 1444, the merger of Badenweiler, Rötteln and Sausenberg marked the beginning of the Markgräflerland.
Largely destroyed in 1678, the castle survives as a ruin on the wooded hilltop — a circular earthwork, a single cylindrical tower and several fragments of wall.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1500.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Sausenburg Castle — including the full exterior approach. 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 Sausenburg Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1500 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Whose castle
Clans who held Sausenburg Castle.
The families that held Sausenburg Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Hachberg-Sausenberg
Held by the counts of Hachberg from 1232; their Hachberg-Sausenberg line, founded 1306, took its name from the castle.
Nearby
