Haunsheim Castle

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Haunsheim Castle

Haunsheim Castle is a three- and four-story wing complex in the neo-Gothic style. It is in Haunsheim , five kilometers northwest of Lauingen in the Dillingen district on the Danube , high above the Zwergbachtal. The castle is surrounded by an almost rectangular English-style landscape garden and is owned by the baronial von Hauch family . The palace and garden are only partially accessible to the public.

history

View from the east
Gate construction from the early 17th century. The characteristic twin-driveway, topped with two Italians hoods, was from Gilg Vältin designed among other things, the plans for the box house in Blenheim had designed and authoritative in the construction of the castle Hoechstaedt was involved

In 1265, the Lords of Haunsheim start building a fortress . From 1601 to 1604 from left Sterzing in Tyrol originating Reichspfennig master Zacharias Geizkofler of Gailenbach and Haunsheim, married to the Augsburg patrician daughter Maria Baroness von Rehlingen , on the remains of the medieval castle is a four-wing palace built with some outbuildings. The client had to raise 16,864 guilders:

The new building was carried out by experienced craftsmen. The construction management was done by Balthasar Reissner , a master builder of the Teutonic Order, the craftsmen from the surrounding towns had been trained in the castle construction of Höchstädt or were designated as urban craftsmen. Geizkofler bought an altarpiece by the imperial court painter Joseph Heintz the Elder for the palace chapel . Ä. (now lost), and in the stone entrance hall the new palace building boasted a real gem, a monumental chimney made of stucco, which the Augsburg sculptor Christoph Murmann created in lavish late Renaissance forms in 1605 based on Heintz's design.

In 1667 the imperial knighthood of Haunsheim passed to the barons of Racknitz . John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough , had his headquarters in Haunsheim Castle in 1704.

In 1806 Haunsheim lost its imperial immediacy and became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria . The Barons von Süßkind acquired the property in 1823. Since a fire broke out in the southern wing of the castle in the same year, it was stopped. A few years later, the western wing was demolished and, with it, probably also the castle chapel . As a result, only the northern and eastern wings of the once four-wing complex are preserved. The buildings that remained after the severe fire were reworked in the neo-Gothic style by foreman Bucher from Ulm.

Amalie Freiin von Süßkind married Hermann Freiherr vom Holtz in 1839. As a result, Haunsheim came to the baronial von Holtz family in 1849, who had the castle rebuilt in neo-Gothic style. During the renovation work, the riding arena and observatory , which Geizkofler had already built, were demolished. Fifteen years later, ownership was transferred to Franz Carl Hauch, whose family was elevated to baron status in 1876. The castle is still owned by the von Hauch family , who began in 1980 with the renovation of the entire castle complex with outbuildings and castle walls, which is still ongoing today (September 2001).

One of the four towers of the curtain wall that once surrounded the castle is still preserved:

It is probably the tower that Esaias Holl, the brother of the famous Elias Holl , built on two floors with loopholes . The preserved tower is single-storey, with a neo-Gothic machicolation and battlements as well as tracery windows. Above the door emblazoned the coat of arms of the current owner family and the year 1864. On the courtyard side, the tower is adorned with a stone relief with the alliance coat of arms Geizkofler / Rehlingen MDCII, next to it an iron pitch torch ... Both under the garden hall and under the high castle wing there are vaulted cellars , some with Columns from the Romanesque period have been preserved .

The alliance coat of arms of the Barons von Hauch and the Barons von Gemmingen is located on the western portal of the palace , including the year of the takeover of the building by von Hauch.

Today, some of the palace's architectural treasures are open to the public on request, for example the orangery with its glass / cast iron construction, the vaulted cellar, the knight's hall and the ballroom. Because of their romantic ambience, they are often rented for anniversaries and other festivities. There are also exhibitions, concerts and song evenings. The Friends of the Haunsheim Castle Association, founded in 1999 . V. sees its main task in researching the history of the castle and its owners, as well as the history of its construction.

literature

  • Gisela von Hauch, Hermann Stoffels: Haunsheim Castle . Haunsheim 2003.
  • District and city savings bank Dillingen ad Donau (Ed.): Castles in the district . Dillingen 2003, pp. 23-29.
  • Christof Metzger: Landsitze Augsburg patricians , Deutscher Kunstverlag , Munich / Berlin 2005, pp. 124–129.
  • Wilfried Sponsel: Castles, palaces and residences in Bavarian Swabia, Augsburg 2006, pp. 50–51.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Haunsheim  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Metzger 2005, p. 127
  2. ↑ Hauch, Stoffels 2003, p. 18

Coordinates: 48 ° 35 '58 "  N , 10 ° 22' 9.7"  E