Vöhlin Castle

Panoramic photo of the Vöhlin Castle in Illertissen from the east

The Vöhlin Castle is in a dominant position above the town of Illertissen in the Neu-Ulm district . The modern castle is the successor to the high medieval Tissen Castle and is now the seat of two museums. It also serves as a conference center for universities.

Geographical location

The multifaceted castle complex is located on a small spur of the terrain , which protrudes on the western edge from the valley-bounding ridge (Iller-Lech-Platte) to the northwest into the Lower Illertal . Except to the southeast (towards the castle bridge), the terrain spur drops about 30 meters steeply on all sides, so that the castle can be seen from afar from the Illertal. The only drivable road to the castle leads over the castle avenue from the east, whereby this swings to the northwest shortly before reaching the castle moat. In addition, there are two pedestrian walkways with stairs to the west to Bräuhausstrasse and to the east to Vöhlinstrasse.

Building description

Inner courtyard of the Vöhlin Castle in Illertissen

The palace complex has an irregular, longitudinally rectangular shape, with only the north-eastern long side being undeveloped, which is delimited by an arcade gallery and widens slightly towards the north-west. The former castle moat is surmounted by the slightly rising castle bridge, built in 1705 and renewed in 1826/27, and leads to the castle gate, over which the octagonal castle tower from the 15th century towers. To the south-west is the Front Castle , a three-storey saddle roof structure that was built around 1595 and changed in 1830. The 15th century castle chapel is located on its northwest side.

On the north-western side is the rear castle , visible from afar in the Illertal , a three-storey gable roof building with eaves. The castle was restored after the fire of 1549 and redesigned in 1705/30. This is followed by the three-storey French building from the first half of the 18th century with a mansard roof , which is framed on its northeast side by two polygonal oriel towers. The representative rooms here are the baroque hall, which is used for cultural events, and the Vöhlinstube. The historic cellar vault was built in the 14th century and is the oldest surviving part of the castle.

history

Coat of arms at the main entrance

The prominent location was used at an early stage to build the castle of "Tüssen", which was owned by the Count of Kirchberg in the 12th and 13th centuries and from 1339 to 1510 . After several changes of ownership to Count von Montfort and Knight Schweikhard von Gundelfingen , the Memmingen patrician family Vöhlin acquired the castle in 1520 . Erhard II from the Frickenhauser line built the rear castle from 1526 to 1529. After the fire of 1549, it was rebuilt in its current form. The castle was badly devastated during the Thirty Years' War . After 236 years the Vöhlin rule ended due to bankruptcy, which is why in 1756 Elector Max Joseph of Bavaria took over the castle and rule Illertissen. In the course of the Napoleonic Wars , it came to the Electorate of Bavaria in 1803 and to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806 .

After the Second World War , the castle became the seat of the tax office, the district court and the district office of the former Illertissen district . After the dissolution of this district in 1976, the district court remained in the castle as a branch of the Neu-Ulm district court until 2009. Since 2010, the rear castle has been used as a joint conference center for the universities of Augsburg , Kempten and Neu-Ulm .

In 1983 the Illertisser Heimatmuseum moved into the Vordere Schloss. Since then, the history of the Vöhlin family, the lower Illertal and the city of Illertissen has been shown there with over 500 exhibits. The Bee Museum has been located in the same building since 1983 , which was created from the collection of KA Forster and which shows the role of the bee since ancient times as well as the pharmaceutical importance of bee venom .