Under Duke Burkhard, an influential Swabian nobleman, Hohentwiel, which lay in the middle of his territory, experienced its first heyday. Burkhard was directly related to the royal family of his age, the Ottons. As a loyal vassal of the king, his troops made a major contribution to the victory over Hungary at the battle on the Lechfeld (955).
He had Hohentwiel enlarged as a royal palace and founded the mountain monastery St. Georg together with his wife Hadwig around 970.
Burkhard died young in 973; he lies buried on the island of Reichenau.
Hadwig was born as a daughter of the Bavarian Duke Heinrich. She married Burkhard III at the age of fifteen and lived a total of forty years at Hohentwiel. Like her husband, she too was closely related to the leading houses of the Empire and Southern Germany.
Hadwig was very well educated and conducted a great many studies. Her teacher was the St. Gallen monk Ekkehard IV, who supplied a depiction of the Duchess together with his description of the monastery history in the 11th century. Hadwig is said to have been vested with great personal authority and at the same time to have had a loving character. Even after Burkhard's death she continued to pursue a pronounced course of power politics against the interest of the Reich. She died childless at the age of 55.
Ulrich von Württemberg had an unhappy childhood. His mother died after his birth, the mentally ill father was imprisoned at Hohenurach in 1490. His guardians, who pursued different political interests, were careless with the boy's upbringing and education. As an adult Ulrich was distinguished by his lack of consideration for and mistrust of the people around him. His private and political life was a turbulent one. For example, he lost his Duchy for many years when the "Schwäbische Bund" (Swabian Confederation) relinquished it to Karl V. The only refuge left to Ulrich was Mömpelgard and Hohentwiel, to which he withdrew and brought into his possession once and for all. With the introduction of the Reformation, Ulrich established decisive criteria for education and training. Duke Ulrich von Württemberg died in 1550 and lies buried in the "Stiftskirche" (collegiate church) in Tübingen.
Eberhard enjoyed a thorough education over several years, which corresponded to the royal requirements of his age. He retained his consciousness for his class even after long years of political and economic crisis in his Duchy. Baroque representation frequently stood in contrast to the poverty of the state, which did not recover from the devastations of the imperial troops following the defeat of Nördlingen (1634) on the side of the Protestants for a long time. Eberhard, who fled to Strasbourg in exile, did not recover his Duchy, reduced in size by half, depopulated, and burdened with heavy debts, until 1638. During his reign he was primarily busy with rebuilding his state. Württemberg's position with regard to foreign affairs was weak, however it was able to keep out of the European conflicts. During Eberhard's rule the state fortress Hohentwiel withstood the massive sieges by imperial, Bavarian and Spanish troops under the legendary Commandant Widerholt. It was delivered undamaged to Eberhard in 1650. Eberhard III lies buried in the "Stiftskirche" in Stuttgart.
Konrad Widerholt plays a prominent role in the history of Hohentwiel Fortress. He was entrusted with the military command for the mountain by Duke Eberhard III shortly before he fled into exile in 1643. Hohentwiel was the only Württemberg fortress in Württemberg when its was occupied by the imperial forces. Under Widerholt's command it withstood all sieges for the coming seven years. This time placed tough demands on Widerholt. He not only had to solve military problems, the food supply, health and commercial problems and the organization of life at the fortress were also extremely difficult. Hohentwiel was held with the support of his immediate subordinates and by means of risky raids, taking of hostages to obtain ransom money and diplomatic skill.
Konrad Widerholt's strict Protestantism is considered the reason for his power of resistance. He had a church built at Hohentwiel in 1645. He died in 1667 in Kirchheim unter Teck, where he was invested with an "Obervogtei" (office of a high governor).
The lawyer and "father of German constitutional law", Johann Jakob Moser, is one of the most famous prisoners to be held at Hohentwiel, which also served as a state prison since the Thirty Years' War. Moser was in the employ of the Württemberg Landtag (state legislature) and refused to meet the demand of Duke Carl Eugen von Württemberg, who demanded money for military expenses without convening the Landtag.
As a result, Moser was banished in 1759 by Carl Eugen to Hohentwiel and not released until 1764 following the manifold efforts of prominent advocates.
The poet Joseph Viktor von Scheffel lived in the mountain guesthouse at Hohentwiel for several weeks in the spring of 1854, where he wrote his novel "Ekkehard" still known today. The historicizing fiction of a love between Duchess Hadwig and the monk Ekkehard was held in high esteem in the empire of the "Gründerzeit" (period of promoterism, 1871-73), as it describes the first German Reich.
After his years as a student in Heidelberg, Berlin and Munich, Scheffel did not take up the usual civil service career as a lawyer. He tried his hand as a painter and finally came to writing as a "wandering poet".
"Oh, I am an epigon", sighs another well-known literary figure from Scheffel's quill, the Trumpeter from Säckingen. Scheffel experienced the same fate as the epigon, who is no longer able to find words for the reality of his age. Although he was still considered the "favorite poet of the new Germany" in the late 19th century, his works, with the exception of "Ekkehard", were quickly forgotten.