Brackenheim Castle

The castle in Brackenheim

Brackenheim Castle is a castle in Brackenheim in the Heilbronn district in northern Baden-Württemberg . The complex was probably built in the high Middle Ages by the Lords of Magenheim in connection with the expansion of the town into a town and came to the House of Württemberg in the 14th century . The castle got its present shape mainly through construction measures in the 16th and late 17th centuries. Württemberg used the castle as a widow's residence without any of the widows who had benefited from the property ever living in the complex in the 17th and 18th centuries. The plant later became the seat of theOberamt Brackenheim and the district of Brackenheim until its dissolution in 1938. Brackenheim Castle now houses a theater, among other things, and parts of the complex are also used for residential purposes. The Brackenheim District Court was also located in the castle until 2019 .

history

Early history

The expansion of the town of Brackenheim to a town in the 13th century goes back to the Lords of Magenheim , who may already have had a seat in an old castle proven by the name of a castle . The existing place was expanded according to plan and walled almost rectangularly, and a new castle was built in the southwest corner of the city, to which today's Brackenheim Castle goes back.

In the 14th century Brackenheim and with it the castle in the city came to Württemberg . As early as 1380, the complex was the wife of Count Eberhard III. , Antonia Visconti , as a widow's residence. In 1492 the complex was first referred to as a castle . Under Duke Christoph , the palace was largely rebuilt between 1550 and 1565. Most of the old castle was demolished in 1552 in order to build new buildings on its foundations. All that remains of the castle is an old keep , which was demolished in 1822. The new building in the 16th century was carried out by master builder Martin Berwart and was larger than the old castle, as some land had been acquired and built over towards the city. A three-wing, almost right-angled complex was created with a three-story wing in the southwest and a two-story building in the east, which were connected to the north by a lower dwelling with two wooden galleries, while a wall closed the inner courtyard in the south. There were several farms belonging to the castle in the immediate vicinity of the castle and in various places within the city. The wing in the southwest became the seat of the respective Württemberg upper bailiffs .

Widow seat of Barbara Sophia von Brandenburg

At the wedding of Duke Johann Friedrich and Barbara Sophia von Brandenburg in 1609, she was assured of the Brackenheim Castle as a widow's seat and the city and the Brackenheim office to provide for her. In 1630, two years after Johann Friedrich's death, Barbara Sophie claimed the widow's residence and had it extensively renovated in the following years by the builder Caspar Kretzmayer without ever living there. However, it was thanks to the construction work emanating from the House of Württemberg and various efforts by the Dowager Duchess to secure the income to which she was entitled from the Brackenheim office that Brackenheim got off relatively lightly in the turmoil of the Thirty Years War . Barbara Sophia died in Strasbourg in 1636. From 1640 the castle was temporarily the seat of the widow of the duke administrator Julius Friedrich .

Widow seat of Maria Dorothea Sophie von Öttingen

Inner courtyard of Brackenheim Castle: New Castle on the left , Old Castle on the right

At the wedding of Duke Eberhard III. with Maria Dorothea Sophia von Öttingen in 1656 the bride was assured of the castle, town and office of Brackenheim as a widow's residence. In 1670 the facility was inhabited by the Württemberg governor Friedrich Ludwig von Janowitz and was badly damaged by a major fire. After the fire, there were initially considerations of only partially rebuilding the complex due to lack of funds and assigning another building as an apartment to the chief bailiff. Ultimately, the decision was made to gradually rebuild. After the death of Eberhard III. in 1674, the construction work was accelerated, as the ducal councilors urged that his widow Maria Dorothea Sophia could move into the widow's seat quickly. From 1675 onwards, this controlled the reconstruction of Kirchheim unter Teck and, contrary to the original plans to rebuild the castle in its old form, brought numerous special requests such as the expansion of the band house into a chapel, the establishment of a pharmacy, the relocation of the horse stable, the construction of portals and bridges, etc., which significantly influenced the design of the castle today. Construction work on the castle dragged on for over a decade. The raised east wing was then called the New Castle , while the opposite wing was called the Old Castle . Maria Dorothea Sophie never moved into the building, as she initially stayed in Kirchheim after the outbreak of the War of the Palatinate Succession before she fled to Regensburg and died in Nürtingen in 1698.

Marie Therese de La Contry's widow's seat

In the 18th century the New Palace became the residence of the respective upper bailiffs, while the Old Palace was inhabited by the respective cellars and house tailors. After the death of the duke administrator Carl Rudolf in 1742, on the advice of the privy councilor Bernhard Bilfinger, the plan arose to expand three rooms in the Brackenheimer Schloss as accommodation for his life partner Marie Therese de La Contry with a widow's residence to be acquired instead of the original will-based provision. Three rooms were actually prepared and various other renovations carried out on the castle, but Carl Rudolf's widow died in 1748 before she had even moved into the premises.

In the first half of the 18th century, the castle press adjacent to the castle was also built. Originally there were three winepress trees in the wine press, which was built in 1731 . As the output of the wine press fell short of expectations, the number of wine press trees was reduced to two and the storage space for grain increased. In 1834 the wine press was stopped, in 1852/53 the building was sold to private customers and shortly afterwards it was converted into a residential building. Theodor Heuss was born in 1884 in a rented apartment on the upper floor of the building . The building was demolished in 1950 and gave way to a new building for a cooperative wine cellar.

Headquarters

In the course of the change in the administrative structure of Württemberg, the Oberamt Brackenheim was established in the middle of the 18th century, the seat of which was the castle and which remained until the administrative district, known as Brackenheim from 1934 onwards, was dissolved in 1938. Later parts of the city administration and a police station were located in the castle. Today the complex houses the Brackenheim District Court and a theater, and parts of the building are also used for residential purposes.

literature

• Home book of the city of Brackenheim and its districts. City of Brackenheim, Brackenheim 1980, ISBN 3-9806667-0-0 .
• Julius Fekete : Art and cultural monuments in the city and district of Heilbronn . 2nd Edition. Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8062-1662-2 , p. 119.

Web links

Commons : Brackenheim Palace  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 4 '37.9 "  N , 9 ° 3' 55.2"  E