Perched on the slopes of Karbonkelberg above Hout Bay, Lichtenstein Castle is a full-scale replica of the medieval Lichtenstein Castle in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Built in the 1930s by a homesick German immigrant, it is visible from much of the valley and creates a peculiar contrast with the fynbos-covered mountainside around it.
Access to the castle itself is restricted — it is private property and not regularly open to the public — but it is clearly visible from the roads and hiking trails on the valley floor, and the story of its construction is one of the odder footnotes in Hout Bay's history. It appears in the background of many photographs of the valley without visitors realising what they are looking at.