アイヒシュテッテンの洞窟・トップ15

Wurzach Castle (1723-1728) in the city center boasts one of the most beautiful Baroque staircases in southern Germany. It is considered a jewel on the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. The elegantly curved staircase cleverly ascends a considerable height to the ceiling fresco, depicting an ancient heaven of the gods. The impressive painting centers on the legend of Hercules. Commissioned by the House of Waldburg-Zeil-Wurzach, it was likely significantly influenced by Italian artists. The castle courtyard is flanked by two guardhouses, the "Hohes Haus" (High House) to the west and the "Rentamt" (Tax Office), built in 1691, to the east. This wing also houses the old castle chapel, first mentioned in 1422. To the left in the choir is the tomb of George I of Waldburg, "Jörg with the pretty hair," who died in 1467. The Baroque staircase is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (free entry) (Source: https://www.oberschwaben-tourismus.de/attraktionen/barocktreppenhaus-wurzacher-schloss-759edc50a8)

Ruins of a former castle with explanatory panels

The castle was built between 1723 and 1728.

The castle was built between 1723 and 1728 by Count Ernst Jakob Truchsess von Waldburg-Zeil-Wurzach. For two centuries it was the residence of the Wurzach line of the noble family and developed into a center of courtly music and painting. In 1922 the Salvatorians bought Wurzach Castle and built a Latin school with a boys' boarding school there. Operations began in 1924 and the new school grew very quickly. On November 28, 1937, the Salvator College was prohibited from accepting any more students due to National Socialist education policy. It soon had to cease its school operations and the large building was practically empty. In September 1940, the Biberach Army Base Administration rented the castle for use as a prison camp. From 1940 to 1945 Wurzach Castle was part of the National Socialist camp system as the location of three camps. There was also a so-called military training camp in the castle park. The prisoners in Wurzach were relatively safe. They were liberated by the French army on April 28, 1945. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Bad_Wurzach#:~:text=7%20Weblinks-,Geschichte,Zentrum%20h%C3%B6fischer%20Musik%20und%20Malerei.

May 2024: The High Castle has new owners after more than 25 years. A symbolic groundbreaking ceremony has now taken place to mark the start of the renovation of the castle and its ring iron house. The plan is to convert it into a hotel, and the actual work is expected to begin in the summer. Bernd Jäger, the project's developer and managing partner of JaKo Baudenkmalpflege GmbH, looked back on the roughly thousand-year history of the High Castle. "A building remains and outlasts many human lives," Jäger pointed out. The High Castle has had changing uses and well-known residents such as the Pappenheimers, the Fuggers or the Prince Abbots of Kempten. People have served the building sustainably and it should stay that way. The 77-year-old developer Wolfgang Scheidtweiler, managing director of the Private Castle Hotel Collection, and his team have a lot of experience in the renovation and conversion of castles. The Private Castle Hotel Collection includes 14 hotels from the Eifel to Lake Constance. "It will be a very beautiful 4-star-plus hotel. The special thing and the experience will be the castle," announced Scheidtweiler for Bad Grönenbach, while emphasizing: "It will remain your living room, the High Castle will remain accessible to everyone." The district educational garden that surrounds the castle will also continue to exist. In the coming years, the Ringeisenhaus in particular will be transformed into a hotel, but "it will still take some time before the first guest arrives," said Kerler. Source: https://www.lokale-mm.de/news/ein-wahrzeichen-in-neuen-handen/

The High Castle is visible from afar on a high and steep mountain spur on the western edge of the Kneipp spa town of Bad Grönenbach. Bad Grönenbach's landmark welcomes visitors from afar and is a cultural site of exceptional quality. It was built on the site of a prehistoric refuge castle around a conglomerate rock, and was even partially hewn out of the rock. The remains of the original rock face can still be seen up to the first floor. The stone that was chipped off was used as building material. It is not known exactly when the castle was built. However, Heinrich Ludwig von Rothenstein probably built the oldest part of the current castle, the northern part of the main body, around 1280. After secularization, a royal Bavarian regional court moved into the castle in 1803, after the entire inventory had been sold and auctioned. After the regional court moved to Memmingen, the castle was acquired by the Hessian court photographer Wilhelm Cronenberg in 1881. He built a - not very successful - "Phototechnical Training Institute" there. In 1901, Dominikus Ringeisen, the founder of the Ursberg Institutions, acquired the run-down castle. In addition to the interior renovation, the Ursberg Sisters also carried out extensive exterior renovations between 1947 and 1951. The "Ringeisenhaus" next door was converted into a school and care home in 1926 and housed a special school until 1977. After that, it served as a home for disabled adults. The front part of the "Ringeisenhaus" used to house a brewery, which was converted into a chapel in 1939 and inaugurated in December 1941. The so-called castle chapel still exists today. Source: https://www.bad-groenenbach.de/kultur-sehenswertes/sehenswertes/hohesschlossschlosskapelle.html

Nice for interested people, otherwise nice

Looks a bit worn out