Burgruine Falkenstein Allgäu

Pfronten, Germany, Germany

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Burgruine Falkenstein Allgäu near Pfronten, Germany, is Germany's highest castle ruin at 1,277 meters above sea level on the Falkenstein peak in the Bavarian Alps, built around 1270-1280 by Count Meinhard II of Tyrol as a strategic border outpost against Bavaria.

The simple high-medieval fortress consisted mainly of a rectangular "Festen Haus" keep with thick limestone walls up to 8 meters high, a weak ring wall, and lower economic buildings, largely destroyed in 1646 during the Thirty Years' War when Tyrolean forces burned it to deny use to advancing Swedish troops.

Purchased by King Ludwig II in 1883 for a grand fairy-tale castle grander than Neuschwanstein, plans halted with his 1886 death, leaving romantic ruins that now offer panoramic Allgäu Alps views via short hikes, a small museum, and proximity to the Blaue Burg hotel.