Baldern Castle

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Baldern Castle, seen from the southeast

The Baldern Castle is located on an isolated hilltop northwest of the city Bopfingen that the escarpment of the eastern Swabian Alb is almost five kilometers lie north. The castle is owned by the Princely House of Oettingen-Wallerstein ; Today it houses one of the largest private weapons collections in Germany.

history

Baldern Castle was first mentioned in the 11th century. In the middle of the 12th century, a noble family von Baldern was named as the owner of the Baldern estate . In 1280 the castle came into the possession of Count Ludwig V von Oettingen. In the 15th century, the castle was pledged by his descendants and redeemed in 1507. The former residence of the Counts of Oettingen-Baldern received its current baroque appearance between 1718 and 1737. The construction work was led by Franz de Gabrieli and, after his death, by his brother Gabriel de Gabrieli . When the noble family Oettingen-Baldern died out in 1798, the inheritance went to the Princely House of Oettingen-Wallerstein. Further major renovations were carried out in the 19th century with the planting of the mountain cone in the form of a landscape garden. The tower was only built in 1887 under the direction of August von Beyer. Baldern Castle was opened to the public as early as 1896.

Museum and weapons collection in Baldern Castle

In addition to the former premises of the noble family and their servants, the museum also includes the representative ballroom. From here the view extends far into the Nördlinger Ries in the east and to the Albtrauf in the south.

In addition to the sumptuous living and state rooms of an aristocratic family from the 18th century and the baroque castle church, the weapons collection is one of the most important sights. It has been kept at Baldern Castle since 1930. It consists of around 800 European and Oriental individual pieces from the 14th to 18th centuries.

literature

  • Ulrich Feldhahn: Castle Tour Baden-Württemberg. Michael Imhof Verlag GmbH, 2005, ISBN 3-935590-63-6 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. Geologically, it consists of layers of Brown Jurassic which were covered by colorful debris due to the Ries event . See Julius Wais: Albführer , Volume I. Stuttgart 1954, p. 119.

Coordinates: 48 ° 54 '9.5 "  N , 10 ° 19' 0.8"  E