Germany · Restored
Waldburg Castle
Waldburg is the ancestral hilltop castle of the House of Waldburg, dating from the 11th–12th centuries and later remodelled as a residence. It stands on a rounded drumlin above the village of Waldburg in Upper Swabia and today houses a museum open to visitors.
Its prime
1550
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1550
The shape it held in its prime.
Perched on a rounded grassy drumlin, the castle is a compact cluster of whitewashed stone buildings surrounded by a low curtain wall. A long low service range with a red clay-tile roof fronts a taller rectangular palas crowned by a steep red gabled roof and a small square roof lookout. To the right rises a stout square tower with narrow window slits and a hipped roof. The walls and buildings present smooth plastered facades with regularly spaced windows and wooden shutters.
Its story
The story of Waldburg Castle.
The Waldburg — literally 'forest castle' — is the ancestral castle of the stewards, Imperial Counts and later Imperial Princes of the House of Waldburg. Dating from the 12th century, it stands on a rounded drumlin above the village of Waldburg, the highest point in Upper Swabia, and counts among the best preserved medieval buildings of the region.
The Waldburg family received the castle as an official fief from the Guelphs. In the middle of the 16th century, under the steward Georg IV of Waldburg, it was developed into a residence resembling a palace; from the 17th century the family lived here only sporadically and building activity fell away.
The family's three-lion crest was in use by 1222, under the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II — after the beheading of Conradin, the last Hohenstaufen, the Waldburgs adopted and carried on the Hohenstaufen lions. Today the castle houses a museum, with guided tours on weekends and holidays.
Step inside
10 places to explore in 1550.
The record describes 10 distinct spots at Waldburg Castle — including 4 interiors: chapel of st. magnus (interior), burgschenke (former kitchen), vaults and cellars and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Waldburg Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1550 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Waldburg Castle.
The families that held Waldburg Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Waldburg
Ancestral seat of the House of Waldburg — stewards, Imperial Counts and later Imperial Princes — from the 12th century, held as a fief from the Guelphs.
