Maurach Castle

Maurach Castle on Lake Constance

Aerial view of Maurach Castle

North-west side, on the right the former chapel

Maurach Castle is a baroque-style building complex that is located below the Birnau pilgrimage church, directly on the shores of Lake Constance near Uhldingen-Mühlhofen . Federal road 31 ran through the courtyard of the palace until around 1950 . The term "castle" is misleading, because it is not a noble residence , but functional buildings (stables) of the former imperial abbey of Salem .

Originally the estate of the Salem monastery

The first farm buildings at this point were first mentioned in a document in 1155. They served as a farm ( grangie ) and ship landing stage for the Salem monastery. The expansion to today's representative appearance took place after 1722 under the Salem abbot Stephan I. Jung . After the expansion, the manor house comprised a residential wing, a chapel , farm buildings and a garden. The staff who cultivated the surrounding vineyards also lived there . Many abbots preferred Maurach as a summer residence to the inland Salem. The monastery used the building as a transshipment point for goods that were delivered or picked up directly by ship. The so-called “Prelate Path” led from Maurach to Salem, via which not only the abbots wandered, but goods were also transported. Maurach played an important role in the economic life of the abbey, because here no road tolls had to be paid for the transport of goods to the lake .

New owner: Cistercians

Due to the secularization of the monastery in 1804, the buildings fell to the margraviate of Baden . In 1919 they were bought by the Cistercians of the Bregenz Territorial Abbey Wettingen-Mehrerau together with the Birnau pilgrimage church .

Conference location for companies and municipalities

After a fire in February 1979, the “castle” was leased to L-Bank and from 1985 to 1992 it was structurally modernized and expanded by the Karlsruhe architect Heinz Mohl . The Landeskreditbank sees itself as a host and therefore does not use the premises for its own training courses. The rooms are rented out for conferences and training events. The conference hotel serves for reflection and encounter and is only accessible to course participants. It has 25 simple rooms.

literature

• Günter Schmitt : Palaces and castles on Lake Constance, Volume 1: Western part. From Maurach to Arenenberg . Biberach 1998, ISBN 3-924489-94-7 .

Web links

Commons : Schloss Maurach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the L-Bank on Maurach Castle.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Measuring table sheet No. 8221 Mainau - GERMANY 1: 25.000 (AMS M841 / GSGS 4414 & 4497)
2. ↑ Uli Fricker: Where bankers come to their senses. In: Südkurier from December 31, 2013.

Coordinates: 47 ° 44 ′ 39 ″  N , 9 ° 13 ′ 10 ″  E