Massenbach Castle
The castle in Massenbach, a district of Schwaigern in the district of Heilbronn in northern Baden-Württemberg, is a three-winged castle complex from around 1760.
The palace was built around 1760 by Georg Wilhelm von Massenbach (1721–1788) as a three-sided rococo-style complex in place of an older mansion that was probably destroyed in the 17th century. Master builder was Johann Peter Moll from Grombach. Before the castle was built, lines of the barons of Massenbach had temporarily lived in simpler buildings. The evangelical line of the family also lived in the lower palace built in 1691 on Raiffeisenstraße, the catholic line in the catholic palace. Although these buildings were listed as historical monuments in 1926/27, they were demolished in 1993/94 due to dilapidation. The castle was therefore once called the Upper Castle to distinguish it from the other mansions in the area.
The castle is located in the valley of the Biberbach, north-west of the village center of Massenbach. It is a three-sided, two-story wing building with sandstone corner blocks and a hipped mansard roof. The inner courtyard formed by the side wings is open to the west, the central building of the palace has a decorative portal with a double gable facing the inner courtyard.
The castle is currently used for residential and commercial purposes.
To the north of the castle is a farmyard. To the east of the castle is the Massenbach tithe barn from 1578 with a striking stepped gable, which fell victim to a fire in 1980 and was subsequently rebuilt.
The property is owned by the Freiherr von Massenbach Forest Foundation.