The best traffic-free bike rides around Wald

The first documentary mention of Sigmaringen Castle can be found in the year 1077, in the annals of the Petershausen monastery. It reports on the stay of King Henry IV during his investiture controversy with the Pope – an indication that the castle already had strategic importance at that time. The oldest surviving parts of the building date back to the Staufer period around 1200. These include the castle gate, the palas, and the keep. Over the centuries, the castle was repeatedly expanded, rebuilt, and adapted to the changing needs of its inhabitants. The 15th and 16th centuries in particular were characterized by profound structural changes. A first major construction period goes back to the Counts of Werdenberg, who began in the 15th century to expand the castle into a representative residence. The expansion to the northeast is documented today only by the preserved lintel on the so-called Swedish Tower with the year 1498. A few years later, another extension to the west followed. With the handover of the castle to the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen line in 1535, a new era began. Count Karl II of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1576–1606) had the castle extensively rebuilt and expanded it according to modern standards. Another milestone was the merging of two separate building parts by Michael Beer around 1650. The master builder, who came from the Bregenzerwald, connected the facilities from the Werdenberg period into a uniform castle architecture. In the 18th century, mainly smaller renovations and furnishing measures followed. Particularly noteworthy is the establishment of a Knights' Hall in 1736, which was redesigned and restored as an Ancestral Hall in 1878. In the course of the emerging Neo-Gothic style, the castle was further redesigned in the second half of the 19th century by the princely master builder Josef Laur. A dramatic event shook the castle in 1893, when a devastating fire destroyed large parts of the complex. As a result, one of the most significant renovation phases in the castle's history took place. The architectural conclusion of this phase is marked by the Portuguese Gallery, completed in 1907. It forms an elegant connection between the castle wings and separates the inner courtyard from the city side – a masterpiece of courtly representative architecture. https://hohenzollern-schloss.de/de/component/content/article/65-historie?catid=2

There are some places here to take a break and switch off for a bit.

A very beautiful monastery. In the Catholic parish church of St. Bernhard, pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago can get their stamp imprint. :-)

The Kloster Wald boarding school combines a girls' boarding school, grammar school, and training workshops for professions - tailoring, carpentry, or wood carving -.

Look at the town sign! A prank?

The Hohenzollern Castle Sigmaringen was first mentioned in documents in the year 1077 and originally originated as a medieval castle on a rock above the Danube. Over the centuries, the complex was expanded several times and developed into a representative residence of the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. After a devastating fire in 1893, large parts of the castle were rebuilt in the historicist style. The castle was the political and cultural center of the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen for many generations. Today, it houses significant art, furniture, and weapons collections and is one of the region's most famous attractions.

Great view

Diving center located on the lake