The Hofen castle ruins are the only castle complex in the city of Stuttgart with towering wall remains. Its function was to secure the Neckar crossing (ford and ferry) and a trade route.
The castle was built next to the existing village around 1250. A knight named Luithart von Mühlhausen appears in documents at this time, and his son Kuno is also named von Hofen.
The castle was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War and partially demolished in 1783 (the stones were used to rebuild St. Barbara's Church and other buildings in Hofen). In 1999, the state capital of Stuttgart bought the castle and restored it.
