Weidenkam Castle

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Weidenkam Castle

The Weidenkam castle is a grand Art Nouveau property on the eastern shore of Lake Starnberg in the municipal area of Muensing , Bavaria.

history

The Weidenkam site is documented in 945 as “Wittichenheim”. It consisted of two farms (the "Weidenkamer" and the "Harrer" farm), which changed hands several times in quick succession from the middle of the 18th century until 1875. In 1875 the area was taken over by a member of the Franck family ( chicory coffee ) and two years later it was sold to Eduard Rosenthal. Then it went into the hands of Baroness von Reizenstein, a native Englishwoman, whose husband was shot in Weidenkam, who built a little castle in the English style on the site. In 1879 ownership passed to Hermann Graf Wedel and in 1892 to Georg Käs, a large industrialist and charitable patron who owned a spinning and weaving mill in Haunstetten. He enlarged the area by buying Schalenkam.

The daughter Maria Käs married the destitute Count von Tattenbach and built today's Weidenkam Castle from 1911 to 1913. Also as Countess Maria von Tattenbach she excelled as a benefactress. As the owner of Schloss Eurasburg, she donated a church in Eurasburg, for example.

In the 1930s she met the young pastor Herman Weidelener , who - originally connected to Rudolf Steiner - soon went his own way of religious philosophy and founded the religious philosophy working group , which was able to hold its conferences thanks to the Countess at Weidenkam Castle. She bequeathed the castle to the philosopher, who gave it to the study group. The registered association has been looking after the property ever since.

After the working group was banned by the National Socialists during the Second World War and the conferences could not take place at Weidenkam, the entire site was confiscated by the American occupying forces for ten years after the war. After the occupation ended in 1955, the building, furniture and art treasures were in poor condition. The building itself was spared from being bombed; however, the ten years of American occupation did the rest to almost completely destroy the interior.

Building description

The unknown architect incorporated the most modern technology for the 1910s into the building. For example, the central heating was operated from a building outside the castle to prevent chimneys from being built, and there was an underground corridor as a connection between the buildings so that the pipes could be hidden.

In a first stage at the end of the 1950s, the religious-philosophical working group renovated the installations and the basic interior fittings, including extensive changes to the floor plans. The countess's gigantic bathroom was divided into several bedrooms and, in a later stage, the attic was expanded, which today also houses several bedrooms and guest rooms under the still large attic.

A second stage in the 1990s brought a renovation of the interior design, which included repairing the furniture, replacing the floor and wall coverings, and curtains. The property continues to be renovated, particularly bathrooms and toilets. It is used for meetings and courses of the association.

Events

The conferences of the Religionsphilosophischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft eV at Weidenkam Castle are mainly dedicated to the work of the religious philosopher Herman Weidelener, which deals with questions about spiritual aspects of lifestyle. In addition to meditation and language work, this also includes seminars on questions of medical ethics or a mythological view of fairy tales. An annual piano master class takes place in the summer.

literature

Web links

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

Coordinates: 47 ° 51 '57.3 "  N , 11 ° 20' 59.4"  E