9. Castle “Hauenfels”

Interesting facts about knights, monks and robbers

The small-sized ruin of Castle “Hauenfels” is located on the eastern slopes of the Ölberg between the Stone Age caves. Its history is largely unexplored. One puzzles over the question, if the building really was an old castle. It could be that it was possibly mentioned as Huwenstein for the first time in a document of the monastery Saint Ulrich dated of 1316. Remnants found next to the location of the castle, refer to a period of use from the 13th to the 16th century. It is assumed that the castle, the nearby rock mill and the small hamlet Gütighofen were an economic entity in the Middle Age.
During the Thirty Years‘ War the building was used as hiding place by the Dominician Father Michael who came from the convent of preachers in Freiburg. From there, he and scattered Austrian soldiers and farmers led successfully a guerrilla war against the Swedish in the nearby Kirchhofen. In later times, the building served as refuge for robber bands. The complex had been built in a slightly overhanging rock. Some walls consisting of cemented quarry limestones, still exist and have a height from up to 4 m. A sketch plan made by Zuccamaglio in the 1860s, provides an impression of the building complex.