Pirkensee Castle
With its unmistakable onion domes, the castle is a landmark of the town of Pirkensee.
In 1326, a Hertel von Pirchense appeared for the first time as the landlord of Pirkensee.
From 1521 (but possibly as early as 1514) to 1731, the devils of Pirkensee were the local owners. Johann Bernhard von Francken had the old castle, which was destroyed in 1632 during the Thirty Years' War, demolished and the new castle built there from 1731 to 1734 as a baroque three-wing complex with the striking onion domes and the castle chapel of St. Anna, in which a magnificent ceiling fresco can be found that was erroneously Attributed to Cosmas Damian Asam. A distillery and an observatory also belonged to the castle.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, a military hospital was housed in the castle. Pirkensee Castle was managed by tenant farmers until the end of the Second World War. After the war, many refugees and expellees were quartered in the castle. The grounds of the palace grounds, including the farm buildings, were acquired by a community of settlers, who provided the local expellees with a livelihood.
At the end of 1990, the castle was sold to a Frankfurt real estate company that wanted to operate a castle hotel with a conference center. After the extensive renovation, the castle was set on fire by an arsonist on October 7, 1999 and was badly damaged. The castle has been partially built up to this day, meanwhile the castle has been repaired by a private operator and can be rented for festive occasions.
Source: excerpts from Wikipedia