Weißenstein Castle (Württemberg)

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Weißenstein Castle, on the left you can see the roofed church corridor
View from the city center
The castle seen from the west
Former fortification of the city castle

The white stone castle in the district is white stone of Lauterstein in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg .

history

In 1241 a castle on the promontory was mentioned for the first time. However, there are no more remains of the castle. Today, the Weißensteiner Schloss, which was the seat of the Weißenstein rulership, stands at this point .

Weißenstein was a town castle , where the place and castle had a common fortification. Of this, only the southern side wall between the castle and the parish church with the roofed church passage is preserved. An engraving by Matthäus Merian from 1643 still shows the entire complex.

The current facility dates from the 15th century. It is mentioned on June 18, 1548, when Georg III. from Rechberg and Staufeneck and Weißenstein zu Kronburg-Kellmünz († 1574) in the castle courtyard of Weißenstein. In the 17th century under Count Wolf Konrad von Rechberg († 1617) the stepped gables, towers, bay windows and galleries were built. Before Count Otto Ulrich von Rechberg and Rothenlöwen moved into the castle in 1865, major renovations were carried out. The panel building, a protruding two-story building, was demolished and a terrace was built on its substructure.

An octagonal tower to defend the covered corridor leading down to the church is located in the southeast corner. The choir of the castle chapel, which protrudes on three sides of the octagon, is housed in the south wall. The chapel was first mentioned in 1471. The vaulted chapel room was probably furnished in a baroque style around 1700. This is indicated by the altar with the alliance arms of Rechberg and Bömelberg . In 1877 the chapel was last renovated in the neo-Gothic style. The north wing has a bay window in the northeast corner and a thick round tower in the northwest corner that monitors the entrance.

Todays use

In 1971 the castle, owned by Albert Germanus Graf von Rechberg and Rothenlöwen, went to the microphotographer Manfred P. Kage , who set up an institute for scientific photography and a museum there and had the castle renovated. The castle has been a sight on the Staufer road since 1997 . Parts of the castle, the chapel and the museum can be visited with groups by appointment. More details can be found on the castle's homepage.

literature

  • Günter Schmitt : Castle Guide Swabian Alb. Volume 1 · Northeast Alb. Hiking and discovering between Aalen and Aichelberg. Biberacher Verlagsdruckerei, Biberach an der Riß 1988, pp. 193–199, ISBN 3-924489-39-4
  • Church leaders of the parish of the Assumption of Mary in Weißenstein and the parish of St. Martinus Nenningen, year 2015

Web links

Commons : Weissenstein Castle (Lauterstein)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Microphotographer in: FAZ of April 7, 2012, page 33.
  2. ↑ Straße der Staufer on stauferstelen.de. Retrieved July 10, 2016.

Coordinates: 48 ° 42 ′ 15 ″  N , 9 ° 53 ′ 6 ″  E