Großheppach Castle

Grossheppach Castle around 1930

Großheppach Castle (also the castle without a name or Gaisberg Castle ) is a Renaissance castle from the 16th century. It is the landmark of the Remstal district of Großheppach in Weinstadt in Baden-Württemberg .

history

Main building today

Parts of the defensive wall

Main portal and gatehouse

City archive exterior view

Farm building with access to the historic castle cellar

The first elements of the castle were built in 1592 by the Württemberg Chancellor Martin Eichmann from a town house. In this first phase of construction, the main building had a square floor plan. In addition, a defensive wall and two gatehouses were built. One of them with prison, since at that time the lower jurisdiction lay with the owners. Both the defensive wall and gatehouses have been preserved to this day, even if they have undergone various renovations. Their current condition corresponds to the Biedermeier period .

In 1655 the second phase of construction of the site began. The main building was given a rectangular floor plan and was first depicted in a painting by Kieser in 1682.

The castle was given its current shape in 1750 when further side wings were added. Various farm buildings were also erected at this time.

The fourth construction phase began in 1893, with a last neo-Gothic extension, the staircase built in neo-Gothic style, and the shape of the towers following historicism. The old little horse stable was converted into a garden shed and a new three-story horse stable was built.

After 1930 the site was largely left to its own devices and various buildings fell into disrepair.

The renovation began in 1980 and continues to this day. The horse stable was renovated and converted into a residential building. The gatehouses and farm buildings were renovated. The walls and roofs were repaired and the buildings were provided with heating. The protection of monuments was the top priority. For example, it was important that the bricks of the buildings consist of original hand-drawn beaver tails from the corresponding period. In its current state, the site has not yet been completely renovated, but there is no longer any major damage. The state of the park is based on an English park , which means that it is close to nature, but well-kept. This gives many animals a retreat. Particularly noteworthy is the sequoia tree within the park, which was planted at the same time as the sequoia trees of the Stuttgart Wilhelma .

owner

The castle had many different owners; it was never a question of Württemberg or Swabian families, but they came from Mecklenburg , Holland , Hanover , Weimar , Franconia , Bavaria and Austria . The long building history is explained by the fact that the site was always inherited through the female line. The name of the owner always changed, but the castle remained in family ownership. The married men then turned the site into a family home and converted it according to their ideas.

The owners were primarily not aristocrats , but rather respectability , i.e. the bourgeois upper class. Between 1650 and 1750 the area was a free estate with frequent changes of ownership. From 1749 the site was owned by the Stockmayer family, whose descendants still own the site today. The current owners are the great-great-great-grandchildren of Johann Friedrich Stockmayer. Due to the inheritance via the female line, representatives of the Eichmann, Stockmayer and Abel families lived on the site over the centuries. The site had its greatest expansion around 1800, when many houses in Großheppach and all of the vineyards belonged to the castle. From 1865 the ownership decreased and received a new intermediate high around 1900, when Baron von Gaisberg-Helfenberg married.

use

Today the site is owned by the charitable Charlotte-von-Gaisberg-Foundation, named after Charlotte Freifrau von Gaisberg-Helfenberg, née. von Göben is. The aim of this foundation is to maintain the site in its traditional state and to carry out careful renovation. All buildings are used. The main house is still inhabited by the owners. The city archive is also located on the grounds of the castle. At the same time, the site is to be made accessible to the general public, which will be realized through guided tours on the occasion of the Monument Day and the Cellar Night or the annual palace garden concert. In addition, there are lectures for aid projects in developing countries.

500 years after the rebellion of the poor Konrad , the "Schloss Gaisberg" serves as the backdrop for the play "Schwaben-Aufstand" written by Barbara Schüßler, which is performed as a theater walk by the amateur theater group Hebebühne .

Individual evidence

1. ^ According to the current owner family " von Gaisberg-Helfenberg ".
2. ^ Performances by the Hebebühne Theater in Weinstadt

Web links

• www.schloss-grossheppach.de

Coordinates: 48 ° 49 '4.12 "  N , 9 ° 23' 24.97"  E