Aulendorf Castle
Aulendorf Castle is the landmark of the city of Aulendorf (Baden-Württemberg), built by the Counts of Königsegg-Aulendorf and is directly attached to the Catholic parish church of St. Martin .
meaning
The more than 800-year history of the palace is reflected in the variety of shapes and styles of today's building complex. The oldest surviving components of the original castle complex date back to the 12th century. After the Thirty Years War , the now fortified castle from the 16th century was transformed into a baroque residence. The completion of the structural development of Aulendorf Castle, which had its role models in contemporary French castle architecture, resulted in the redesign of the main building into a representative palace.
Aulendorf Castle is a cultural monument of particular importance due to its historical source value and the artistic status of its individual buildings.
Regardless of this, the preservation of the palace complex has recently been called into question. Inadequate partial use and neglecting construction maintenance led to structural damage. The dry rot , which spread in almost all buildings within a few years, posed a particular danger . In some cases, the structural structure was already so weakened that it was necessary to sprout to secure the substance. In some rooms, parts of the stucco ceilings fell to the floor. The entire, almost empty interior was neglected. All attempts to counteract this decline failed due to the financial resources of the monument owner at the time. It was only when the property was transferred to the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1987 that the way was cleared for rescue measures that could not be postponed.
Since the country saw no immediate use for the castle, it founded a rescue company especially for this purpose and entrusted it with both the further safeguarding of the building and the search for a use that was appropriate to the monument.
An adequate usage concept for the Aulendorf palace complex was finally determined in 1992. It was possible to persuade the city administration to take over the two essentially medieval buildings and to set up a branch museum of the Württemberg State Museum in the baroque and early classicist buildings .
Another building from the 19th century houses the new meeting room for the local council .
With this unusual rescue measure - only possible thanks to the great financial commitment of the state of Baden-Württemberg - the existence of this important cultural monument was secured.
Builders
The von Königsegg family acquired the former Guelph , then Hohenstaufen property in 1381. Ulrich von Königsegg zu Aulendorf called himself for the first time in 1386. Hans von Königsegg (1440–1484) moved the family crypt here. Around 1490 the Königsegg family was raised to the status of imperial baron.
In 1629 he was raised to the rank of imperial count. As a result, the Counts of Königsegg, who also held high offices at the Viennese court, expanded Aulendorf into their residence. This exists until the end of the imperial direct rule Aulendorf belonging to the Swabian district through the Rhine Confederation Act in 1806. This means that Aulendorf is added to the new Kingdom of Württemberg , and the counts become Württemberg noblemen.
After the mediatization, the Counts of Königsegg withdrew to Hungary and Vienna . Aulendorf is only temporarily inhabited, but was extensively modernized at the beginning of the 20th century. The descendants sold the castle in 1941, which increasingly fell into disrepair under changing owners and passed to the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1987.
history
Aulendorf Castle, landmark of the city of Aulendorf , located on a hill above the Schussen , dominates the landscape with its gothic stepped gables, visible from afar. On the other hand, it looks towards the city with its classicist façade, the central projection of which is crowned by a copper count's coat of arms.
The building, which has grown over centuries, combines five stylistic epochs. Its various construction phases and uses can be seen after the renovation in the castle courtyard and inside the building: including the remains of a huge castle complex from the beginning of the 13th century and a three-storey half-timbered house from 1480. The castle owes its stepped gable to the expansion into a late Gothic residential castle in the 16th century.
In the 18th century the castle was transformed into a representative palace: in 1741 the complex was supplemented by the farm buildings opposite, grouped around a kind of courtyard, with a royal stables and apartments for officials. In 1756 the connecting building to the church was built.
From 1778 to 1781, the still formative redesign was carried out by Pierre Michel d'Ixnard , who expanded the wing on the city side and covered it with an early classical facade. The last modernization was carried out by a Viennese architecture firm around 1900. A magnificent main staircase leads to the first floor.
In 1778 Johann Georg Dirr provided the designs for the stucco decor in the marble hall with depictions of the four elements and the seasons and in the music salon with allegories of the arts. Alabaster reliefs over the doors of the marble hall depict scenes from ancient mythology. The music salon alone contains wallpaper from around 1800. The adjoining rooms were expanded in the late 19th century with stucco ceilings and wall paneling in the classical style.
The catastrophic state of construction at the end of the 20th century initially suggested partial demolition, until the state formed a rescue company to rescue the castle in 1989 and provided the financial means. The concept for the restoration was developed together with the State Monuments Office. The construction work was completed in 1997.
Todays use
In the older parts of the castle is the town hall today, in the younger classical wing a branch museum of the Landesmuseum Württemberg was housed on two floors . This branch museum was abandoned in late 2016. The premises can currently be viewed independently using an app . There is a photo studio in the basement.
Former toy museum
The toy museum was abandoned and closed.
The toy collection of the Württemberg State Museum was shown in the former library on the ground floor of the castle until the end of 2016. Toys from the beginning of the 18th century to the present day were found in four rooms. The oldest part of the collection was made up of dolls, some of which still belong to the Baroque period . Many of the historical dolls come from the possession of the famous Ludwigsburg writer Tony Schumacher (1848–1931). A selection of dollhouses, dollhouses and doll kitchens reflected the development of domestic life since the Biedermeier period.
Artistic wooden toys documented the reform movement at the end of the 19th century, which demanded sophisticated toys. The wooden game collection also included traditional products from the Ore Mountains handicrafts. Construction and experiment kits, steam engines and drive models, optical, acoustic and electrotechnical devices represented the wide range of technical educational toys that were intended to convey knowledge of the natural sciences and technology. The most extensive part of the collection, however, was the train toy with products from the well-known Württemberg manufacturers Rock & Graner , Ludwig Lutz , Märklin and Kibri .
Former exhibition Art of Classicism
The exhibition was also abandoned and returned at the end of 2016.
The palace offered an ideal setting for works of art of classicism, as its representative rooms, the staircase, the music salon and the marble hall date from this period.
literature
- Hans Ulrich Rudolf (eds.), Berthold Büchele, Ursula Rückgauer: Places of rule and power - castles and palaces in the Ravensburg district . Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2013, ISBN 978-3-7995-0508-6 , pp. 101-107.
- Rudolf Brändle among others: Schloss Aulendorf . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89870-458-8 .
- Hubert Krins: On the importance of the Aulendorf Castle in terms of monument preservation, City of Aulendorf, Ravensburg district . In: Denkmalpflege n Baden-Württember , 18th year 1989, issue 2, pp. 77–84. ( PDF )
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 57 ′ 13.7 " N , 9 ° 38 ′ 18.7" E