Hüfingen Castle

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Upper Castle in Hüfingen, today a nursing home for the elderly

The Castle Hüfingen , including Upper Castle , is a style of Baroque erected palace complex in the city of Hüfingen . It is surrounded to the northeast by the old town of Hüfingen and to the southwest by the Breg flowing past .

history

In the early Middle Ages, the current location was provided with simple residential buildings that were attached to the city wall. To the southwest of it stood the gatehouse, a small gateway building with two round towers, which was inhabited and guarded by the "gate builder" in the apartment above. The former city lords such as the Knights of Blumberg or the later Lords of Schellenberg lived in the so-called "Rear Castle", a small medieval city castle that was badly destroyed in the Thirty Years' War . Under the inheritance of Hans von Schellenberg (Hans the Scholar) and his cousin Arbogast von Schellenberg, both rulers of Hüfingen at the time, the rear castle fell to the latter. In 1523 Hans von Schellenberg began building the upper castle, which he used as a permanent residence after completion. Hüfingen remained in Schellenberg's possession for decades, but was forced to be sold to the neighboring Fürstenbergers in 1620 due to heavy debts .

Under the Fürstenbergers, Hüfingen became an upper administrative city, but the old upper castle was no longer inhabited and stood empty for decades. Only Count Karl-Egon von Fürstenberg-Mößkirch , who inherited Hüfingen, had comprehensive plans drawn up for the castle around 1702. He wanted to turn Hüfingen into his private residence and needed a representative residential building for this. The actual residences of the Fürstenbergers were initially Heiligenberg , Messkirch , Stühlingen and finally Donaueschingen . He had the old castle partially torn down and rebuilt, using the demolition material for the new building. Although Count Karl-Egon was building the palace at Hüfingen almost impetuously, he would never see the completion. He fell on October 14, 1702 as an imperial field marshal lieutenant against the French in the battle of Friedlingen . The construction of the palace was interrupted and stood still for several years. After his death, Hüfingen fell to his brother Froben Ferdinand , count and later Prince zu Fürstenberg , also from the Fürstenberg-Mößkirch line. In 1712 he began again with the complete demolition of the unfinished castle in order to realize his own concept. According to the plan of a Franciscan from Meersburg , he had the palace, which still exists today, built in the Baroque style. The medieval gatehouse was demolished for this purpose. The old town castle, former castle of the Arbogast von Schellenberg, was used as a quarry to procure building material. The castle was included in the city fortifications with a new gate building. It includes the gate building, which connects in a straight line with the main market street, the corner building adjoining a baroque garden as well as the widened gallery and two staircases with mansard roofs. Members of the royal family only lived sporadically in the palace, mostly it served as the residence of princely widows, who often preferred Vienna . Soon the new castle was also empty. In the 19th century the Fürstlich Fürstenberg collections were located in the building, later also a beer tavern and a studio of Franz Xaver Reich , a local artist.

Later and current use

In 1870 Prince Karl Egon III gave zu Fürstenberg the castle was donated to the Fürstlich Fürstenbergisches Landesspitalfond, a foundation founded by Prince Joseph Wenzel zu Fürstenberg-Stühlingen. The Princely Fürstenbergische Landesspital has now been housed in the building, a facility for sick and handicapped people that has been in Geisingen since the foundation was established. During the war years, it was converted into a military hospital several times. In the middle of the 20th century the facility became the Fürstlich Fürstenbergische Landesheim. It served as a children's home as well as a care facility. In the meantime, the stately building has been renovated several times and rebuilt inside. Today it serves as a care facility for the elderly.

literature

  • August Vetter in: Chronicle of Hüfingen. Published by the city of Hüfingen
  • Hüfingen - guide through an old town. Beatrice Scherzinger / Hermann Sumser, Volume 1, p. 121
  • Historical illustrated book from Hüfingen. Published by the city of Hüfingen, Volume 1

Web links

Coordinates: 47 ° 55 ′ 26.2 ″  N , 8 ° 29 ′ 18 ″  E