Graf Eberstein Castle
The Graf-Eberstein-Schloss in the Gochsheim district of the city of Kraichtal in the district of Karlsruhe in north-western Baden-Württemberg goes back to a medieval castle and was one of the headquarters of the Counts of Eberstein . The only partially preserved complex has been owned by the municipality since the 19th century and is now partially used as a museum.
history
The castle is located on the site of an earlier castle on a hill west above the Kraichbach . The town of Gochsheim, which was first referred to as an oppidum (city) in 1278, developed around the medieval castle . The castle was owned by the Counts of Eberstein , who had the castle rebuilt from 1520 onwards. By 1580 a complex in the Renaissance style was built from the small front castle and the larger rear castle . Adjacent to the palace complex (on the site of today's school) there was once also the manorial wine press.
After the early death of Casimir von Eberstein in 1660, who left no male descendants, Eberstein's property came to Württemberg through his daughter Albertina Sophie Ester († 1728), who was married to Friedrich-August von Württemberg-Neuenstadt († 1716) .
During the devastation of the city in 1689 during the Palatinate War of Succession by the French and a city fire in 1739, the castle was damaged. In 1828/29 the larger rear castle was demolished, the remaining front castle came into the possession of the city and was used at times as a school and after the construction of a new school in 1905 it was rebuilt in its present form.
The original components of the castle that have been preserved from the time it was built in the 16th century include the stair tower, the main portal and a stucco ceiling in the tower room. The building in the castle forecourt is a former farm building and used to house the horse stables and carriage shed, which is probably the only remaining remnant of the medieval castle due to the humpback blocks visible on the south side.
Above the portal hangs the Württemberg-Eberstein alliance coat of arms with the initials of the duke couple: Friedrich August Duke of Württemberg and Albertina Sophia Ester Duchess of Württemberg Countess von Eberstein.
Todays use
The Graf-Eberstein-Schloss now houses the Kraichtal City Museum and the Kraichgau Library Gochsheim . The museum presents around 100 works by the Karlsruhe artist Karl Hubbuch, who died in 1979 . On the upper floor you can marvel at the world's largest iron exhibition by collector Heinrich Sommer with 1,300 specimens . The Krieger Foundation is also located here, with works by the theologian, folklorist and painter Carl Krieger as well as numerous reed pen drawings by the artist Margarethe Krieger . The museum is rounded off by cooper's and blacksmith's workshops.
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 6 ′ 12.9 ″ N , 8 ° 44 ′ 46.9 ″ E