Filseck Castle (German: Schloß Filseck) stands on a promontory where the Pfuhlbach joins the river Fils (a tributary of the Neckar) near Uhingen in the district of Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg. The castle is now a restaurant, museum and cultural centre, and houses the Göppingen District Archive.

The original castle was built in the 13th century by the Counts of Aichelberg. It was acquired by Burkhard von Berlichingen in 1596, and renovated in a Renaissance style. From 1749 to 1920 the castle was owned by the Von Münch banking dynasty.

In 1971 a fire burnt down the south and the west wings of the castle. Göppingen district acquired the property in 1986, and restoration work was completed in 1994. Since 2008 the castle has been run by the Schloss Filseck Stiftung (Filseck Castle Foundation) of the Kreissparkasse Göppingen (Göppingen District Savings Bank).



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Schloss Kirchheim is situated near the old town of Kirchheim unter Teck. This Renaissance castle is the best preserved example of Württemberg duchy strongholds.

On his return from exile, duke Ulrich of Württemberg ordered seven fortresses to be constructed across the country, in order to better protect its territory from other countries. As part of these measures, the fortifications of Kirchheim unter Teck were expanded and in 1538, the castle was established as a corner rampart of the city wall. This simple functional building with two timber floors with a massive base was completed in 1556 under Ulrich's son and successor, Duke Christoph. At first, the modest palace of the rulers was used for defensive purposes and occasionally as a hunting lodge. When the plague raged in the capital city of Stuttgart in 1594, Frederick I moved his court here. Over time, its importance as a regional fortress decreased and it was gradually transformed into a residential palace.

The building has an irregular diamond shape, with four wings. It was surrounded by a deep moat, which has now been drained. On one side, it still connects to the city walls.

During a two century period starting in 1628, Kirchheim castle served as the residence of the widows of some of the dukes. Residences used by the widows of other dukes included the castles in Nürtingen and Göppingen. Among the residents:

1628-1632 Duchess Barbara Sophie of Brandenburg (1584-1636), daughter of Elector Joachim III Frederick of Brandenburg and wife of Duke John Frederick.
1675-1690 Duchess Maria Dorothea (1639-1698), born Countess of Oettingen was the wife of Duke Eberhard III.
1694-1712 Duchess Magdalena Sibylla of Hesse-Darmstadt (1652-1712), daughter of Landgrave Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt and Maria Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. She was the wife of Duke William Louis of Württemberg. She initiated the lavish decoration of the chapel Kirchheim castle.
1735-1757 Duchess Joanna Elisabeth of Baden-Durlach (1680-1757), daughter of Margrave Friedrich VII of Baden-Durlach and wife of Duke Eberhard Louis.
1795-1811 Duchess Franziska of Hohenheim (1748-1811). She moved into the castle on 22 January 1795 as a widow Duke Charles Eugene and had it remodeled by the ducal architect Reinhard Heinrich Ferdinand Fischer inside and out. New portals were constructed, two small rooms were added on the first floor and a palace terrace was created. The rooms were furnished in the Empire style.
1811-1857 Duchess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg (1780-1857), daughter of Prince Charles Christian of Nassau-Weilburg and Princess Carolina of Orange. At first, she occupied th castle together with her husband Duke Louis of Württemberg (1756-1817). She was buried in the Stiftskirche, Stuttgart.

After the death of Duchess Henriette, the castle Kirchheimer was used for various purposes. In 1870 and 1871 it served as a hospital for the wounded of the Franco-German War. From 1876 till 1908 the Catholic parish held its services in the chapel. From 1911 till 1948, it contained the city's vocational school for girls, a kindergarten and reidential units. In 1947 the state of Baden-Württemberg assigned the castle to the State Economics School (est. 1923) for teaching and boarding purposes. The Pedagogic Institute and School, the successor to the Economics School, moved into the castle in 1971 and has used the castle ever since.

Kirchheim Castle is one of the state's monuments and is maintained by the organization State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg. The grand living spaces on the south side of the second floor are set up as a palace museum and are open to the public. They are dedicated to the last two residents, Franziska and Henriette. Most of Franziska's furniture has been preserved, and this allowed the state of the castle during Franziska's days to be restored when the castle was reconditioned in 1985 and 1997.

Schloss Kirchheim (Teck)

Schloss Kirchheim is a castle and palace in the old town of Kirchheim unter Teck, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The palace was built in the 16th century by Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg as a castle and part of a greater system of defensive works. Over two centuries later, it became the dower house for the Duchy and later Kingdom of Württemberg. The palace's interior is currently arranged and furnished as it was during the residence of its final dowager, Henriette von Nassau-Weilburg.

History

On his return from exile,[citation needed] Duke Ulrich of Württemberg ordered the construction of seven fortresses across the Duchy of Württemberg in order to better protect its territory. Those fortresses were to be the castles of Hohentübingen, Hohenurach, Hohenneuffen, Hohenasperg and Hohentwiel, and the towns of Schorndorf and Kirchheim unter Teck.

Construction of Kirchheim's complex of fortifications began in 1538, and with resources assembled from across the Duchy. This complex was made up deep moats, robust bastions, ramparts, and, at its southwest corner, a castle. This castle was to be the most important part of the complex, acting as a last line of defense and commanding two gates. Ulrich's son and successor, Duke Christoph, completed construction on the complex with the addition of a 75 meters (246 ft) series of casemates called the Erdenberg. This formed a zwinger and base for wall-mounted artillery.

Palace

Over the 17th century, the castle's military importance, and even appearance, eroded. The Dukes of Württemberg began to use it as a jagdschloss, or as a dower house when required, and laid out gardens around it. Underscoring all this, in 1688, during the Nine Years' War, Dowager Duchess Maria Dorothea Sophia von Oettingen  secured Kirchheim's protection from destruction by French troops from General Joseph de Montclar. Duke Eberhard Louis's wife, Johanna von Baden-Durlach, moved into Kirchheim Palace in 1735 rather than Leonberg Castle, and she made some modest revisions to the residence.

In the mid-18th century, Duke Charles Eugene in particular made use of Kirchheim Palace and Stuttgart's Schloss Solitude for his hunting trips. His visits to Kirchheim unter Teck were accompanied by retinues of over 400 people who found lodging and services with the town's people. In 1767, Charles Eugene converted the palace's plant nursery into an opera house. Four years later, in 1771, Charles Eugene led a 411-person retinue to Kirchheim for the autumn hunt. Among them was his Chamblerin, the Baron von Leutrum, and his young wife, Franziska von Hohenheim. Charles Eugene fell in love with Franziska over the trip and ended his relationship with his mistress, Catharina Bonafini. Charles Eugene made Franziska his new mistress months later, then later married the Duke in 1785. The two built Hohenheim Palace, which was deeded to Franziska by Charles Eugene in 1772, but when the Duke died in 1791, this was not respected. Charles Eugene's successor, his brother Louis Eugene, also did not recognize Franzisk's status as Dowager Duchess. As such, Franziska was divested of Hohenheim Palace and, in 1795, was exiled to Kirchheim Palace in 1795 without much of her inventory. Finding Kirchheim Palace not to her taste, Franziska tasked Charles Eugene's court architect, Reinhard Heinrich Ferdinand Fischer, with modernizing the palace while she furnished it with what she could bring from Solitude and Hohenheim Palaces. Franziska led a quiet, and at times monotonous, life at Kirchheim and died there on 1 January 1811.

In 1810, the reigning King Frederick I exiled his brother Louis and his family to Kirchheim for Louis's expensive lifestyle and outstanding debts. Louis, his wife Henriette von Nassau-Weilburg, and their five children moved into the palace in 1811 and were to live austerely. Louis's death in 1817 freed the family, and allowed Henriette to renovate the palace once again. Henriette also became very involved in the municipal community after Louis's death, establishing vocational schools and orphanages, and organizing outreach programs. After Henriette's own death in 1857, her furnishings were auctioned off, and all palatial residents except for the groundskeeper left.

In 1922, the municipal history museum moved into the palace's chapel. Under the Nazis, this was turned over to and used by the Nazi Party. After 1947, the palace housed a teacher's college and learning center.

Kirchheim Castle is one of the monuments and maintained by the heritage agency Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. The grand living spaces on the south side of the second floor are set up as a palace museum and are open to the public. They are dedicated to the last two residents, Franziska and Henriette. Most of Franziska's furniture has been preserved, and this allowed the state of the castle during Franziska's days to be restored when the castle was reconditioned in 1985 and 1997.

Grounds and architecture

Kirchheim Palace was remodeled frequently throughout its usage as a dower house by its residents. The first of these was for Franziska von Hohenheim who, in the 1790s, tasked Reinhard Heinrich Ferdinand Fischer with the expansion of the castle into a palace. Fischer added a garden and two new rooms on the casemates. The final remodeling was by Henriette von Nassau-Weilburg, and it is this arrangement and decor that presently exists at Kirchheim Palace.

The building has an irregular diamond shape with four wings, and a deep moat. The suite for the resident dowager was the apartment on the third floor of the south wing. Past the corner tower, where the dining room is found, is an enfilade of 13 rooms in two rows, separated by a servants' passage. The first of these rooms, just off the stairs and spanning the width of the building, is the summer dining hall. This room was very important to the social life of the resident dowagers. Henriette von Nassau-Weilburg converted the hall into an antechamber while its functions moved into the octagonal tower.

Under Franziska von Hohenheim, the dowager suite was made up of an enfilade of six rooms on its south side, and five rooms, hall, and a staircase on its north end. The southern portion was later expanded with two rooms, the Garden Rooms, built from wood which was then on top of a casemate. A watercolor painting made 14 years after Franziska's death show the walls as being covered by blue wallpaper with white curtains. Henriette von Nassau had the floors covered with vibrant carpets and new furniture, and covered the walls with new wallpaper and framed paintings. Henriette also had the Garden Room rebuilt in brick to make it habitable in the winter, and filled it with keepsakes.

Kirchheim Palace has had several gardens. The first was laid out when the castle became a hunting retreat, but was erased by the construction of a rail line in the 19th century. Franziska von Hohenheim arranged a new garden between the stable and palace, and built a greenhouse there in 1797, but Henriette von Nassau rearranged it into an English landscape garden. Henriette laid out another two gardens where the north-west moat had been and in front of the Garden Rooms.

Schloss Kirchheim

Teck was a ducal castle in the kingdom of Württemberg, immediately to the north of the Swabian Jura and south of the town of Kirchheim unter Teck (now in the district of Esslingen). Burg Teck takes its name from the ridge, the Teckberg, 2,544 feet high, which it crowned. It was destroyed in the German Peasants' War (1525). The castle was reconstructed during the 19th and 20th centuries.

In 1863, the title "Prince of Teck" (German: Fürst von Teck) was conferred as a courtesy title by King William I of Württemberg upon the children of his cousin Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1804–85) by his morganatic marriage with Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (1812–41), ennobled as countess of Hohenstein. In 1871, Prince Francis, the eldest son of Duke Alexander, was created Duke of Teck. His eldest son Adolphus (born 1868) was the holder of the title in 1910.

In 1889 an observation tower with botty was built and inaugurated on 1 September 1889. In 1933 a hall was built near the tower called Mörike Hall. Since 6 June 1941 the buildings are owned by the Schwäbischer Albverein. From 1954-1955 the Mörikehalle became a restaurant with sleeping rooms. On 9 November 1999 the surroundings of the Teck became protected area (Naturschutzgebiet).

The most famous of the Teck family is considered to be Duke Francis's daughter, Mary of Teck, who was queen consort to King George V of the United Kingdom and Empress of India.

Burg Teck

Helfenstein Castle represents the remnants of the fortified castle (burg) Helfenstein of the counts of Helfenstein located above the city of Geislingen an der Steige, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

The castle was constructed, by Eberhard von Helfenstein, at the turn of the 12th century and was frequently enlarged during the period from 1100 to 1380. The site of the castle, over the main Imperial road through the Fils valley, allowed the Helfensteins to observe and control trade in the region. The close connection between the Helfensteins and the Hohenstaufen Emperors during the 12th and 13th Centuries allowed the family to grow and expand. During the peak of their power the Helfenstein family ruled Heidenheim, Blaubeuren, Wiesensteig and Sigmaringen. However, as the Hohenstaufen family lost power so did the Helfensteins. By 1382 the castle was used as collateral for a loan from the city of Ulm. Then in 1396 the castle was totally under the control of the free and imperial city of Ulm.

As gunpowder weapons became more common, the castle was expanded and rebuilt as a fortress. On the top of the hill, in the direction of Weiler, a bulwark was built to protect the castle. The old keep was rebuilt with extensive walls. Additionally, the terraces below the castle were expanded and fortified. The castle was used for the Ulm representative or Vogt and the western section of the castle was rebuilt as proper home for a patrician Vogt.

In 1552, during the Second Margrave War the castle fell unopposed into the hand of the Margrave of Ansbach. In August that year, troops from Ulm retook the castle after several days of shelling with heavy stone cannonballs. Having lost its significance and value as a fortification, the city of Ulm started to demolish the castle starting in 1552, sending all usable materials to Ulm. The ruins were left and the site became overgrown over the following centuries.

Starting in 1932, the site of Helfenstein Castle was excavated with the help of Army engineer troops. A south tower was rebuilt and stairs and wooden bridges were erected to allow easy access from several directions. The ruined complex is a favorite destination for weekend walks and excursions.



Helfenstein Castle

Hohenneuffen Castle is a large ruined castle in the northern foothills of the Swabian Alb, above the town of Neuffen in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg.

The medieval castle is situated on a large late Jurassic rock on the edge of the Swabian Alb at an elevation of 743 m (2437 ft) in a strategically advantageous location on the slopes of the mountain range.

There is evidence for a pre-historic, iron age settlement on Hohenneuffen. It functioned as an outpost for the oppidum at Heidengraben during the late La Tène period in the first century BCE.

The pre-Germanic name Neuffen is derived from the proto-Celtic adjective nobos, meaning holy or sacred, implying that the mountain had a religious rather than a military function 2000 years ago.

The castle was built between 1100 and 1120 by Mangold von Sulmetingen who later changed his name to include the element von Neuffen. The first documentary evidence dates from 1198. At that time the castle was still in possession of the family von Neuffen, a member of which was the Minnesänger Gottfried von Neifen. The castle went into the possession of the Lords of Weinsberg at the end of the 13th century who sold it on to the Counts of Württemberg in 1301. The castle proved its defensive worth in 1312 when, during the internal strife within the Holy Roman Empire following the election of Henry VII as Holy Roman Emperor, it could not be conquered.

The expansion of Hohenneuffen Castle into a fortress began in the 14th century. However, the most important alterations to the castle structure were conducted by Duke Ulrich of Württemberg in the first half of the 16th century. Barbicans, round towers, bastions, a building for the commanding officer, casemates, stables, an armoury as well as two cisterns were built. Essentially, these fortification did not change for the next two hundred years. While the fortress had to surrender to troops from the Swabian League in 1519, it withstood the insurgent peasants' attempt to take it during the German Peasants' War of 1524/25.

The castle was besieged by Imperial forces for more than a year during the Thirty Years' War. In November 1635 the commanding officer Johann Philipp Schnurm and his dispirited troops managed to negotiate a surrender, allowing Schnurm and his men to depart with their weapons and possessions. Yet, in violation of the agreed terms the troops were forced to serve in the Imperial army and Schnurm lost all his possessions.

Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg planned to have Hohenneuffen altered into a fortress following the French model. Yet he died before the task was completed and his successor, Karl Eugen abandoned the plan due to the high costs and the doubtful military benefit. In 1793 it was decided to raze the castle and to sell off the building materials. The castle went out of use in 1795 and was finally destined for destruction in 1801. The inhabitants of the surrounding area were happy to utilise the cheap building materials. Only from 1830 onwards the remains of the castle were safeguarded from further destruction and in the 1860s public access to the ruin was allowed. In 1862 an inn was established in one of the buildings in the upper bailey.

Similar to other fortresses Hohenneuffen was used as a holding place for prisoners of the state, where important prisoners were held and, if deemed necessary, tortured. Amongst those were a young Count of Helfenstein who fell to his death in 1502 whilst trying to escape from the castle. In 1512 Duke Ulrich had the abbot of Zwiefalten Abbey, Georg Fischer, imprisoned at the castle. On the orders of Duke Ulrich the reeve of Tübingen, Konrad Breuning, was held and tortured here before being beheaded in 1517 in Stuttgart. Matthäus Enzlin, Geheimrat at the court of Duke Johann Frederick of Württemberg, attempted several escapes whilst being imprisoned on Hohenneuffen in the early 16th century. In 1737 Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, Court Jew to Duke Karl Alexander was incarcerated on Hohenneuffen for several weeks before being relocated to Hohenasperg, finally to be executed in Stuttgart in 1738.

During the Allied occupation of Germany following the end of World War II, the military governments of the American and French occupation zones founded three states in their zones in 1946 and 1947: Württemberg-Baden in the American zone, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Baden in the French occupation zone. When it became known that a constitution was being worked out for West Germany, a number of politician took the initiative to merge the three south-western states. The prime minister of Württemberg-Baden, Reinhold Maier, invited the governments of the three states to a conference which took place on 2 August 1948 at Hohenneuffen Castle. His idea was to bring the governments closer together in order to prepare for the formation of a new state in the southwest of Germany. The delegation from Baden was headed by Leo Wohleb, an uncompromising advocate of the restoration of the former Baden. Württemberg-Hohenzollern was represented by its home secretary, Viktor Renner. Maier had chosen the place for the conference with care. The wide view from the top of the mountain, particularly onto the border of the occupation zones which ran between the district of Reutlingen and the then district of Nürtingen, was meant to impress the delegates. Secluded from their respective governmental apparatus and the public, the participants were supposed to be able to engage in discussions without any disturbances. However, no agreement was reached at the end of the conference. Nevertheless, it marked the beginning of the process which led to the formation of the so-called Southwest State in 1952: Baden-Württemberg.

Today, access to Hohenneuffen Castle is free for the public and some of the casemates are accessible. There is also a restaurant, beer garden and a kiosk.

A fell running event (Hohenneuffen-Berglauf) takes place every June. Participants have to cover a distance of 9.3 km and a difference in altitude of 483 metres.

Furthermore, the castle is also used for concerts and a medieval-style market.