Castle above Ellwangen

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Castle above Ellwangen
View of the castle above Ellwangen

View of the castle above Ellwangen

Creation time : around 1200
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Completely preserved, converted into a castle in the 18th century
Standing position : Residence of the provosts
Geographical location 48 ° 57 '51 "  N , 10 ° 8' 20"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 57 '51 "  N , 10 ° 8' 20"  E
Height: 505  m above sea level NN
Castle ob Ellwangen (Baden-Württemberg)
Castle above Ellwangen

The castle Ellwangen served from 1460 to Fürstpröpsten the prince provost Ellwangen as a residential and manor and from 1802/1803 to 1842 as an electoral and royal residence. Originally built it was about 1200 as a fortress of the then already direct imperial monastery Ellwangen .

The extensive facility is located at around 505  m above sea level. NN on a hill above the city center of the east Württemberg town of Ellwangen in the midst of orchards . Together with the Schönenberg Church , the castle forms a landmark of Ellwangen that can be seen from afar .

history

View of the castle above Ellwangen (1627)
View of the castle from the south (2007)
Inner courtyard (2014)
Staufer column (2012)

The palace complex goes back to a medieval castle , which was built around the year 1200 by Abbot Kuno I (1188–1221). The "castrum Ellwangen" was first mentioned in 1266. From 1460 the building served as a residence and residence, shaped by the secular court rulings of the provosts who had become imperial princes. Prince Provost Johann Christoph von Westerstetten had the complex redesigned as a Renaissance palace from 1603 to 1608 . The arcade courtyard and the four corner towers date from this time .

In 1720 there was a devastating fire. Prince Provost Franz Ludwig of the Palatinate (1664–1732), Archbishop and Elector of Trier (from 1729 of Mainz), Bishop of Breslau and Worms and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, commissioned the Teutonic order builders Franz Keller and Franz Josef Roth to design the palace in the style of the Rebuild baroque . This resulted in the staircase completed in 1726 with a double flight of stairs, the uniform mansard roof of the main building and the magnificent throne room .

From 1802/1803, Elector Friedrich made the prestigious building his residence in the course of secularization. Friedrich I , who rose to become King of Württemberg , had a throne room set up and between 1803 and 1806 the government of Neuwuerttemberg even met in the palace building. In the years 1815 and 1816, the rooms were converted again. The exiled Westphalian king Jérôme Bonaparte , brother of Napoleon, and his wife Katharina , the Württemberg king's daughter, had some rooms in the castle set up as a residence and the windows and galleries glazed. In 1997 the square in the palace courtyard was restored. The lime plaster with straw reinforcement on the beams was replaced by a silicate plaster, whereby the original color of the facade was restored around 1700. During the renovation work, torture devices from the time of the Inquisition (for embarrassing questioning) and a wooden model of the prince's houses (on Ellwang's market square) were found in the attic, the facade design of which has remained almost unchanged to this day.

The castle chapel with one of the few preserved altarpieces has been preserved, showing the town of Ellwangen, which was then enclosed, and the castle with the wooden pentagonal tower that fell victim to the fire of 1720. The farm buildings, in particular the brewery, a roof for horses and carriages, a trout pond, a very spacious sheep stables, the herb garden in the ring wall and the castle kitchen in the inner courtyard have been preserved. The baroque rose garden (bastion garden) is accessible in summer via the gatehouse. In the gatehouse, from the time of the fortified castle, there are lowerable, massive bars, machicolation, archery divisions and a dungeon.

Finally, from 1842 onwards, there was a definitive change in the use of the building: an agricultural school and some state authorities moved in.

In 2012, a Staufer stele was inaugurated on a meadow in front of the palace , commemorating the Ellwang Abbot Kuno I, who was an important advisor to the Staufer and who prepared the coronation of Frederick II in Rome.

Todays use

Even today the castle ob Ellwangen still houses several state and district authorities, a branch of the district office and an art studio. There was a youth hostel and apartments in the east wing. Ellwangen Castle is one of the state's own monuments and is looked after by the State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg . The castle museum is open to visitors.

The castle museum

In 1967 the castle ob Ellwangen became known nationwide after the German Federal Post Office issued a 50-pfennig definitive stamp. The palace museum, established in 1908, was created from the former living quarters of the prince provosts. The throne room of the museum, which is often used for concerts due to its good acoustics, offers a unique view of the town of Ellwangen. The treasures of this museum include baroque nativity scenes , the Ellwang cabinet , stove plates from the Wasseralfingen foundry, works by the local painter Karl Stirner and valuable faiences that were produced in the nearby Schrezheim factory.

Regular events

Today the castle offers an ideal setting for theater performances, which take place every year in the first week of summer vacation.

There is also a good backdrop for the annual home days and countless other cultural events. Since 2017, the castle in the air has been taking place on the Friday before the home days.

Postage stamps

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ellwangen 2012 on stauferstelen.net. Retrieved March 23, 2014.