HOHENASPERG  , an

ancient fortress of Germany, in the kingdom of Wurttemberg, ro m . N. of Stuttgart, is situated on a conical hill, limo ft. high, overlooking the town of Asperg . It was formerly strongly fortified and was long the state prison of the kingdom of Wurttemberg . Among the many who have been interned here may be mentioned the notorious Jew financier, Joseph Suss-Oppenheimer (1692–1738) and the poet C . F . D . Schubart (1739–1791) . It is now a reformatory . Hohenasperg originally belonged to the counts of Calw; it next passed to the counts palatine of Tubingen and from them was acquired in 1308 by Wurttemberg . In 1535 the fortifications were extended and strengthened, and in 1635 the town was taken by the Imperialists, who occupied it until 1649 . See Schon, Die Staatsgefangenen von Hohenasperg (Stuttgart, 1899) ; and Biffart, Geschichte der Wurttembergischen Feste Hohenasperg (Stuttgart, 1858) .