Castle Haigerloch in Haigerloch (Baden-Württemberg, Germany)

Photo by Roman Eisele

The first castle of Haigerloch was built around the year 1000 and was first mentioned in 1095. It was built on a narrow promontory above a meander of the river Eyach. It was mostly destroyed in the 12th century and all that remains of it is a tower that was later turned into the clocktower of a church.

Instead of rebuilding the old castle, the lords of Haigerloch decided to build a new one on a much more spacious promontory on the opposite shore of the river. It came into possession of the Hohenzollern family which ruled much of the surrounding lands in Swabia (distinct, but nonetheless related to the Hohenzollern branch that ruled Prussia and became Emperors of Germany). The old castle was strongly renovated during the Renaissance era, with the impressive castle church being internally redone in a Baroque style in the 18th century.

While the castle had no further strategic significance, it was spared later destructions. Incidentally a tunnel right underneath the castle church was turned into the "Atomkeller" (nuclear cellar) during the last stages of World War II where German physicists made a last ditch effort to build a nuclear reactor. This reactor never reached criticality, but was nonetheless the pinnacle of the nazis' effort to build a nuclear arsenal, much feared by the Allies, but in truth far behind the Manhattan project.