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History

In 1125, the lords of Kaltenbach (from the town of Kaltenbach near Malsburg-Marzell) donated land to the Saint Blaise Abbey. It is assumed that the Sausenberg also belonged to these lands, but this cannot be proven. In any case, the monastery of Saint Blaise Abbey established provostships in the immediate vicinity of Bürgeln and Sitzenkirch, as well as in Weitenau. The bailiwick of these provosts was exercised by the House of Zähringen and after their death, it passed to the Margraves of Hachberg.

In 1232, they acquired the Sausenberg from the St. Blasien monastery. It remains unclear whether the Sausenberg was already cultivated at this time or earlier. In literature, the possibility of an early wooden earth castle has been considered or an early refuge in times of war has been assumed. A certificate from 1240 mentions the Sausenberg as an exhibition site, which at best indicates a castle - a certificate from 1246 explicitly mentions a castri Susenberk, although it is unclear whether the keep already existed. Based on this knowledge, it is assumed that a castle was built by the Margraves of Hachberg in the years 1232 to 1246.

In 1306, an inheritance distribution took place between the third Hachberg Margrave Heinrich III (1290-1330) and his brother Rudolf I (1290-1330) – Hachberg, together with the town of Emmendingen was transferred to Heinrich. Rudolf received the rule of Sausenberg with the Sausenburg and the Landgraviate Breisgau. Due to this Rudolf obtained the governorship of the priories Bürgeln, Sitzenkirch and Weienau of the Saint Blaise Abbey.

Rudolf was wedded to Agnes of Rötteln, who - together with her husband - inherited half of the demesne Rötteln which used to belong to her brother Walter of Rötteln, in 1310. Rudolf died in 1313 but in 1315 his son Henry, Margrave of Hachberg-Sausenberg was gifted the second half of the demesne Rötteln by Lüthold II of Rötteln, since he was Agnes' uncle and didn't have any male heirs. Therefore the Margrave Henry was the sole ruler of the demesne Rötteln and the landgraviate Sausenberg. This heritage of Rötteln meant a significant gain in power, which increased their domain by about a factor of three. Before 1317 they moved to the Rötteln Castle, the name of this inherited castle and demesne influenced the naming of the margraves. Since Henry died a premature death in 1318, his younger brothers Rudolf II and Otto I, Margrave of Hachberg-Sausenberg shared the reign. Rudolf II mortaged the landgraviate in Breisgau in 1318 to the Counts of Freiburg, whereat the rights to the region around the Suasenburg were excluded. This was the "Hachberg-Sausenberger" Line and therefore called the ruled territory landgraviate Sausenberg. Thanks to an endowment by Johann, the last earl of Freiburg, the Badenweiler reign transcended to the Margrave of Hachberg-Sausenberg, which later on comprised the three constituents of the so-called „Markgräflerland“ (County Sausenberg, Dominion Rötteln, Dominion Badenweiler). Henceforth, the Sausenburg castle shared its destiny with its sister castles in Rötteln and Badenweiler. After Rudolf II passed away, his brother Otto took over the reign due to the fact that Rudolf the II‘s son (Rudolf III) was not yet of age at the time. Later on, both of them ruled together, although Otto‘s focus lied more on the castle of Sausenburg. Nearby Sausenburg - in the church of Sitzenkirch - Otto was buried. Subsequently there seemingly was never another person who resided at the castle of Sausenburg.

Only fragments of the actual buildings history are known. After his father, Margrave Rudolf III of Hachberg-Sausen, had the castle of Rötteln expanded, Wilhelm of Hachberg-Sausenberg dedicated himself to the Expansion of the Sausenburg castle. Despite a large sum of debts Wilhelm inherited, he still began the construction process in 1428, which was the year his father passed away. He began with the roofing of the wall-walk, the construction of a guard room above the gate tower, and the construction of two additional rooms next to the tower.

Margrave Philipp was the last successionable male representative of the house of Hachberg-Sausenberg, yet he passed away in 1503. After his death, its margraviate, according to the contract of inheritance („Röttelsches Gemächte“) - including the Sausenburg castle - went to the main stem of the Margraves of Baden. The acceptance of the inheritance against the will of Phillip's widow and daughter by Margrave Christoph's was only possible through the united force of the "Landschaft". The "Landschaft", the representative of the "Bauernschaft", occupied the castles Rötteln Castle, Sausenburg and Badenweiler before the by the widow selected "Landvogt" was able to take control

Occupation in the German Peasants' War 1525

The castle was also a location in the German Peasants' War. In their writ, Margrave Ernst's counsel accused his subjects of the Sausenburg's occupation and of stealing supplies and other items. As a response, the Landschaft's counsel acknowledged the Sausenburg's and other of their lord's castle's occupations but explained that the occupation was solely to protect the castle of damages by other groups of peasants. In particular, to minimize destructions by a group of peasants lead by Hans Müller.

The peasantry's use of the castle was not only as a margravial fortification but also as a "Landesfestung". The margraves retreated out of northern Breisgau after grave defeats of neighbouring groups of peasants. They arrived back in their villages on the 30th of may. This day possibly marks the end of the Sausenburg's occupation which started on the 14th/15th of may.