It is a couple kilometres hike to the top, depending on your starting point. The view from the ruined castle is worth it though. You get a great view of the valley below.

From the remaining ramparts of Burgruine Neuenfels you can see the neighboring towns. Badenwieler and Britzingen are closest, but over there is Laufen and St. Ilgen, Dottingen and Heitersheim. A few hills further on you can see the castle at Staufen. What you never seem to see from these places is Sulzburg. That town is nestled in a valley, pretty much overlooked.

I would have thought Britzingen to be the closest village, but Badenwieler looks closer from up here. It was someone from Britzingen though that first discovered the mass murder here in 1540.

Apparently the family who lived in the castle used to send their dog to Britzingen with a basket strapped to him. He would return with meat from the butcher shop. When the dog didn’t come shopping for a couple of days, people in Britzingen wondered what was wrong. Someone made the trek up the hill and discovered the bodies of eight people – and the dog.

The suspect was still at large, but after more than 475 years it is safe to assume they are dead – unless you are the type that subscribes to vampire theories. This is the Black Forest after all.

It is one of those historical mysteries that may never be solved. Who knows if the killer or killers left a record somewhere, confessing their sins and explaining their deeds.

What a find that would be – but I don’t know where to even begin to look.