Langenburg Castle

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Langenburg Castle above the Jagst Valley

The Langenburg Castle was the residence of the family of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , who still lives there today. It is located in Langenburg in the Schwäbisch Hall district in Baden-Württemberg on a mountain tongue high above the Jagst valley .

history

Inner courtyard of the palace before 1870

Around 1226 Langenburg was first mentioned as Langenberg - castrum et oppidum . From 1235 the castle was stately and heavily rebuilt, the two mighty round towers still date from this time. In the 15th century the castle was converted into a fortress for fire artillery and between 1610 and 1616 into a princely residence. These conversions with their Renaissance style still stand out today, especially the inner courtyard with its galleries, gables and stair towers . The third decisive construction period was the sober baroque renovation from 1757 to 1759 , which also included the construction of the two bridges that lead over the two neck ditches to the main entrance of the castle . In the 19th and 20th In the 19th century, the appearance of the castle remained largely unchanged. In contrast to the surrounding villages, Langenburg was spared from fighting during the Second World War . From the spring of 1944, however, due to the war, rooms in the castle had to be made available, and a few weeks before the end of the war a hospital was set up there. In a major fire in January 1963, the east and north wings partially burned out; they were then rebuilt.

Castle fire

In the castle museum

On the night of January 23rd to 24th, 1963, a defective fireplace in the east wing started a fire. The extinguishing work was hampered by temperatures of −20 ° C and thick fog, so that the fire could spread quickly and had devastating consequences.

Chronology of events:

  • Around 1:00 a.m .: A housemaid notices fire and smoke in the anteroom of the dining room.
  • 1:15 am: A smoldering fire breaks out in the ceiling; the Langenburg and Gerabronn fire departments are alerted.
  • 1:30 a.m .: The fire fighting starts, but a short time later the flames cover the entire east wing.
  • Approx. 2:00 am the fire spreads to the neighboring roof of the bed tower; the fire brigade has hacked holes in the frozen Jagst, but the water supply remains disastrous.
  • The fire brigade from Crailsheim arrives at 2:15 am; Stuttgart is alerted five minutes later.
  • 2:45 a.m .: the Künzelsau fire brigade supports the extinguishing work.
  • The bell tower burns at 2:55 am; 15 minutes later the bell plunged into the depths.
  • At around 3:30 a.m., the fire covered two thirds of the north wing and part of the south wing.
  • 4:00 a.m .: The Schwäbisch Hall fire department arrives at the castle.
  • 4:35 am: The Stuttgart fire brigade finally arrives; shortly afterwards hose lines could be laid from the Jagst to the castle, but the water immediately freezes; fire extinguishing water is brought in by shuttle service with 15 tankers.
  • 5:00 am: The roof of the chapel tower is on fire.
  • At 6:00 a.m .: The extinguishing work started to be successful.
  • 6:30 am: The flames are under control, they are not spreading any further.
  • 8:00 am: The fire is out.

Furthermore, the fire brigades Schrozberg, Bad Mergentheim, Heilbronn, Blaufelden, Kirchberg / Jagst and Lendsiedel were in action, a total of 275 men. The south and west wings could still be protected in time and survived the inferno almost unscathed, but the main living quarters of the royal family together with all the historically valuable furniture and paintings were destroyed in flames. The total damage was estimated at 6 million DM, according to today's value approx. 12 million euros. Reconstruction of the castle began in spring 1963 and was completed in summer 1968.

Langenburg Castle today

Austro-Daimler in the Auto Museum

Langenburg Castle is privately owned by the Hohenlohe-Langenburg family and is their residence.

Parts of the complex have been open to the public as a museum since 1960, namely the Renaissance inner courtyard, which is widely known for its special acoustics, the palace chapel and seven rooms (wooden corridor, new table room, archive room, baroque hall, king corner room, Feodora library, linden tree trunk -Room). This castle museum offers the visitor an insight into the manorial living and living culture of yore. Valuable period furniture , tapestries, pictures, faience, porcelain and a collection of weapons, armor and hunting trophies are on display .

A castle café , located below the castle in the rose garden, has existed since 1950.

In the former royal stables between the castle and the rest of the town is the "German Car Museum", which was devised in 1969 by Kraft Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg and the racing driver and motor journalist Richard von Frankenberg and opened in 1970 .

Every year, several concerts from the “Hohenloher Kultursommer” series take place in the baroque hall of the palace .

Every year in September the Princely Garden Days are held on the grounds of the castle , a sales exhibition with show gardens and a wide range of rare plants, accessories and garden furniture. The program also includes garden concerts, workshops, an environmental educational program for children and a wide range of culinary options.

More pictures

  • entrance

  • tower

  • patio

  • Castle and garden

  • The castle at the blue hour

  • The castle above the foggy Jagsttal

literature

  • Alois Schneider: The castles in the Schwäbisch Hall district - an inventory . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1228-7 , pp. 144-148.

Web links

Commons : Langenburg Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Museum Schloss Langenburg (ed.): "Ex flammis orior" (I rise from the flames) - Reconstruction after the fire disaster of 1963–1966 .

Coordinates: 49 ° 15 ′ 10.9 "  N , 9 ° 50 ′ 35.5"  E