Lichtenstein Castle is one of those fairy-tale structures scattered around the European countryside. This particular castle is located near Honau in the Swabian Alb, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany (I know, I know...look it up!).

Historically there has been a castle on the site from around 1100 AD. It was twice destroyed: first in the ReichsKriegs war of 1311, and then again by the city-state of Reutlingen in 1381. The castle lay in ruins until around 1802 when it came into the hands of King Frederick I of Wurttemberg who reconstructed it and turned it into a hunting lodge.

By 1837 the land passed to the hands of his nephew Duke Wilhelm of Urach, the Count of Wurttemberg, who, inspired by the author Wilhelm Hauff's novel "Lichtenstein", remodeled the castle between 1840-1842. The romantic Neo-Gothic design of this present day structure was created for the Count by the architect Carl Alexander Heideloff. Today the castle is still owned by the Dukes of Urach and is open to visitors on weekends.

Some of the best times that Kyle and I have had in Germany involved picking a likely-looking ruin on a map and checking it out. That is how we happened upon this charming little (relatively) castle in the south of Germany near Stuttgart. We spent a wonderful afternoon walking the grounds, touring the structure, and crashing a wedding in the small chapel next to the castle. It is truly amazing that there is so much history just sitting out there waiting to be discovered. This castle is older than our country!!