The most famous of the Neuffens is the minnesinger "Her Götfrid von Nifen", from whom 51 songs have been preserved in the famous Codex Manesse. This magnificent collection of German songs primarily assembled by the Zurich patrician Manesse (died 1304) arranges the poets of "women's praise" by rank. Gottfried von Neuffen is the 17th of 138 positions.
"(...) Solde ich da von fröide lazen
sit daz mich diu welt an fröiden wil vergan?
Nein, ich wil mich sorgen mazen
Dur die lieben der ich her gedienet han.
Sie hat mangd wibes güete
Siest gelich des meien blüete
Swie diu here min gemüete
Lat so lange in senden sorgen stan.(...)"
"(...) Sollt ich da der Freud entsagen,
weil die Welt mich will an Freuden übergahn?
Ich will nicht mehr Trübsal tragen
Um der Liebsten willen, der ich dienet han.
Sie hat so viel Frauengüte, sie ist wie des Maien Blüte,
wenn die Stolze mein Gemüte auch so lang in Sehnsucht lasset stahn (...)
The poet Gustav Schwab contrived a ballad on the history of the last surrender of Hohenneuffen, which took place without a fight. Whether the castellan made the Duke the Godfather of his new-born son in the process is very improbable.
"Müd von Schlagen und von Siegen
Zieht der Herzog durch sein Land, droben sieht er Neuffen liegen
Auf der dräuenden Felsenwand.
Heißer Strahl der Frühlingssonnen
Brennt auf Reiter und auf Ross
Wäre doch das Nest gewonnen!
Ruft der Landgraf, sein Genoß. . Und so reiten sie die Stege
Durch den kühlen Wald hinauf;
Lauscht kein Hinterhalt im Wehe?
Regnen keine Kugeln drauf?
Nein, es ist kein Feind zu spüren,
Alle Zinnen stehen leer,
Auf bequemen Brücken führen
Durch den Burgwall sie das Heer. (...)
As a fortress of the Duchy of Württemberg, Hohenneuffen was equipped for long sieges. In 1568 the following stock of weapons was recorded: 12 cannons with 5,000 cannonballs and 200 hundredweights of powder, 70 guns and 300 spears. There were provisions for three months for 100 men and 50 horses.
The servant girl of Commander Matthias von Jost's wife (1688-1690) made "headstrong remarks" and was therefore threatened with imprisonment in the tower. On night she tried to flee, injured herself and was brought back to Hohenneuffen. She said she could not complain about her stay there, except "for the lack of single men, bleak loneliness and thick smoke in the kitchen".
A Swabian saga reports of a miraculous rescue of Hohenneuffen besieged in the Thirty Years' War. On the advice of the palace chaplain, the starving fortress residents employed a trick. They fed their last grain to a starving ass, which promptly couldn't take the generous meal and died. The fattened cadaver was thrown over the castle wall and the enemy retreated, convinced of the plentiful food reserves.
In 1792 the last commander moved to Kirchheim due to the dilapidated state of his quarters. He reported to Duke Carl Eugen, "Nothing new has occurred at Hohenneuffen". The Duke is said to have remarked, "I'm just happy that nothing old has collapsed".
"Vor dem Gebirg die Einzelberge ragen, das kahle Haupt verklärt im Abendlichte
und schön umrauscht von alten Heldensagen.
Von ihren Burgen, jetzt zu Staub geschlagen,
ward einst im Siegeslauf die Weltgeschichte
bis ins ferne Morgenland getragen."
Eduard Paulus
At the foot of Hohenneuffen, at the train station in Neuffen, the trip through the valley ends with the "Sofazügle" (little sofa train), a historic steam train. In 1900 the "Tälesbahn" from Nürtingen to Neuffen was opened as the first railroad line of the Württembergischen Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (Württemberg Railroad Company). Train enthusiasts, lovers of the Alb countryside and visitors to the fortress ruins equally enjoy the leisurely half-hour journey. The name of the train is misleading, as passengers are not seated on plush upholstery, but instead on wooden benches.