The  Wachenburg  is a castle on a hill overlooking Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was built between 1907 and 1928 by the Weinheimer Senioren-Convent, a Corps of former students. The castle contains a restaurant with a nice view of the country.

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Windeck Castle stands on a small hill in Weinheim on the Bergstraße. It was built around 1100 to protect the inhabitants of the Lorsch monastery.

It was hugely damaged in 1674 by the troops of King Louis XIV of France. In 1960, the ruins were restored, the palace walls newly erected and the donjon safeguarded. It was acquired in 1978 by the city of Weinheim. In the 1980s, archaeological examinations and conservation works were carried out, and the ground plan was found, which gave an idea of the dimensions of the fortress. Today, the ruins of a fortress Windeck are classified as a historical monument.

A beer garden operates on its premises.

Windeck Castle (Weinheim)

Heidelberg Castle

Schloss Schönberg, auch das Schönberger Schloss genannt, liegt bei Schönberg einem Stadtteil von Bensheim an der Bergstraße im Kreis Bergstraße über dem Schönberger Tal in Südhessen.

Geschichte

Schönberg gehörte zur Grafschaft Erbach und später, nach der Teilung der Grafschaft, zum Zweig derer von Erbach-Schönberg.

Im 13. Jahrhundert (erste urkundliche Erwähnung im Jahre 1303), wurde das Schloss als Burg auf einer Bergnase über Schönberg erbaut, um die Lautertalstraße zu kontrollieren. Die ersten Gebäude müssen sich schon an Stelle der heutigen Bauten befunden haben, sie hatten wehrhafteren Charakter und waren zur nördlichen Hauptangriffsseite durch eine Schildmauer mit Türmen (einer noch vorhanden) geschützt. Die Burg war als pfälzisches Lehen im Besitz der Schenken von Erbach. In unmittelbarer Nähe grenzten mit der Kurmainz in Bensheim und der Grafschaft Katzenelnbogen in Auerbach fremde Territorialherren an das Erbacher Gebiet.

Mit dem Aussterben der Grafen von Katzenelnbogen wurden deren Erben, die Landgrafen von Hessen, im Jahr 1479 neue Nachbarn der Erbacher.

1504 im Bayerisch-Pfälzischen Erbfolgekrieg wurde die Burg durch den Landgrafen Wilhelm II. von Hessen schwer in Mitleidenschaft gezogen, geriet in Brand und wurde stark beschädigt. Nach Erhebung der Erbacher in den Stand der Grafenwürde im Jahr 1532 kam es in den folgenden Jahrzehnten jedoch zu einer regen Neubautätigkeit. In der Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts erfolgte der Wiederaufbau als offenes Schloss.

Im Jahr 1717 kam es zur Teilung des Erbacher Grafenhauses und Schloss Schönberg wurde Sitz der nach ihm benannten Linie Erbach-Schönberg. Unter Graf Georg August von Erbach-Schönberg wurden um 1728/29 aufwändige Bauarbeiten aufgenommen.

Um 1840/50 erfolgten weitere gravierende Umgestaltungen an Herrenhaus und Nordflügel sowie im Schlosshof, wo die östliche Terrasse hergerichtet wurde. Der im 18. Jahrhundert erweiterte Barockgarten wurde zum Landschaftspark umgestaltet. 1902 entstand als letzte größere bauliche Zutat noch der Pavillon an der Terrasse, dessen Schöpfer der Bensheimer Architekt Heinrich Metzendorf war.

1956 wurde das altehrwürdige Schloss der 1903 in den Fürstenstand erhobenen Schönberger Linie an die Ruhrknappschaft in Bochum verkauft und zu einem Erholungsheim ausgebaut. Am 17. Oktober 1957 wurde es nach Umgestaltungen im Beisein von Bundespräsident Theodor Heuss zur Nutzung als Gesundheits-Vorsorgeheim übergeben.

Das Schloss diente bis Dezember 2011 als Tagungs- und Bildungsstätte für die Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See. 2014 wurde das Schloss an einen regionalen Unternehmer verkauft.

Schloss Schönberg (Bensheim)

Mannheim Palace is a large Baroque palace in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was originally the main residence of the Prince-electors of the Electorate of the Palatinate of the House of Wittelsbach. Part of the palace is used by the University of Mannheim. The castle, which features tapestries, furniture, paintings, porcelain and silverware can be visited on a free-flow basis with audioguides.

Origins

The city of Mannheim, founded in 1606, was fortified and at the present site of the castle there was a fortress called Friedrichsburg, sometimes serving as alternative residence for the Elector, one of the most important territorial princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

The actual palace dates from the 18th century. When Elector Karl III Philip had confessional controversies with the inhabitants of his capital Heidelberg, he decided to make Mannheim the Palatinate's new capital in 1720. Karl Philip decided to construct a new palace as his residence on the site of the old Friedrichsburg. It was part of a general trend among the German princes to create grand new residences in that era.

Construction was commenced solemnly on June 2, 1720. The building process was intended to cost about 300,000 Gulden, financed by an extraordinary “palace tax”, but in the end, the palace cost about 2 million Gulden and severely worsened the Palatinate's financial situation. The first administrative institutions began using the palace in 1725, but Karl Philip was able to transfer his court to the new residence only in 1731. Construction was not completed until 1760.

Karl Philip died in 1742 and was succeeded by a distant relative, the young Count Palatine of Sulzbach and later Duke of Bavaria Charles Theodor. During his reign, the palace and the city of Mannheim saw their zenith. The glamour of the Elector's court and Mannheim's then famous cultural life lasted until 1778, when Karl Theodor became Elector of Bavaria by inheritance and he moved his court to Munich. Although Mannheim kept the title of “residence”, the palace was used merely as accommodation for several administrative bodies.

Things worsened further during the Napoleonic Wars, when Mannheim was besieged. During Napoleon's reorganization of Germany, the Electorate of the Palatinate was split up and Mannheim became part of the Grand Duchy of Baden, thus losing its capital/residence status. Some glamour returned to Mannheim Palace when Stéphanie de Beauharnais, the consort of Grand Duke Karl of Baden, resided here after 1806. For most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the palace served no uniform purpose, being used as a representative building and a museum for the city.

In World War II, the palace was heavily bombed and partly destroyed. Many people supported demolishing it after the war to create space for a more modern city architecture. These plans came to nothing and in recent years the palace has been renovated extensively thanks to private donations and government funding totaling more than 54 million euro.

Use as University

Elector Karl Theodor founded the Kurpfälzische Akademie der Wissenschaften as early as 1763, and although there was no continuous existence of a scientific college in Mannheim, the Wirtschaftshochschule, or business college, founded in 1907, saw itself in the tradition of Karl Theodor's earlier college. The college expanded its subjects program in 1967, thus gaining “university” status. The University of Mannheim still uses Mannheim Palace as its central building complex and although many university buildings are dispersed all over the city center, key institutions such as the rectorate or the main library are accommodated in the palace, besides countless lecture halls and offices.

Structure

The site of the palace is impressive, although the construction of roads and railway tracks has diminished its dominating look. To the southwest, it faces the Rhine and Ludwigshafen. To the northeast the palace presents its 450 m long front to the Mannheim city centre. By surrounding an area of 6 hectare the castle is one of Europe's biggest palaces and the second biggest one in Baroque style, second only after Versailles. For reasons of prestige the architects made sure that Mannheim Palace has one more window than Versailles. The Breite Straße runs from the palace to Mannheim's central square, the Paradeplatz.

The central part of the palace is the Mittelbau with its representative halls. Today, the Mittelbau holds state rooms and the Rittersaal hall. The Mittelbau is flanked by the Ehrenhof West and Ehrenhof Ost wings, which include the Court of Honor in front of the Mittelbau. In those two wings, there are mainly lecture halls and offices of the university's humanities section. Below the Ehrenhof, there is a massive bunker dating from World War II. Initially constructed as defensive military fortification designed to protect up to 1,500 residents or valued materials from Russian and Allied bombing attacks, it served as a hotel with a capacity for up to 65 guests after the war. Today it is used as occasional exposition space for modern and urban art, e.g. during the Long Night of Museums in Mannheim.

The northern wing includes the impressive Schlosskirche (palace church) and the law section, as well as Mannheim's Amtsgericht (lower district court). The southern/eastern wing is much larger than the northern one, including the Schneckenhof yard (a popular university party ground) and holding most of the university's central institutions, as well as the largest lecture halls and the central Hasso Plattner Library. Two sculptures are located on the central courtyard and represent the two founders of the Mannheim Palace Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine and Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.

The palace has been repainted in a bright ocher/yellow, the Mittelbau (Corps de Logis) has been thoroughly rebuilt (including a new roof construction), and the Ehrenhof (Court of Honor) was restructured and paved with granite.

Mannheimer Schloss

Auerbach Castle is one of several fortresses along the Bergstrasse in southern Hesse, Germany. The castle was originally built by King Charlemagne (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire) and rebuilt by Count Diether IV of the Katzenelnbogen dynasty in the second quarter of the 13th century. Today it remains standing atop a hill known as Urberg (part of the Melibokus) above the town of Bensheim-Auerbach.

The town of Auerbach (Bensheim) (de) was mentioned for the first time in the Lorsch codex as "Urbach". Through the marriage of Hildegard von Henneberg, areas of the Bergstraße passed to Henry II of Katzenelnbogen in 1135. Henry was ennobled as an earl in 1138 by King Konrad III. At that time, Auerbach belonged to the County of Katzenelnbogen. Katzenelnbogen was sub-divided into the Lower County (around St. Goar on the Rhine) and the Upper County (in what is now southern Hesse, south of the Main).

A stronghold was needed to provide security for the southern Katzenelnbogen dynasty; this included protection of the duties (tolls) collected at the town of Zwingenberg from travellers using the well-known north-south trading route along the Roman mountain road (Strada Montana, or Bergstrasse in German). Auerbach Castle was built on the strategically important Auerberg (Urberg) hill to address this need. Construction of the castle is believed to have begun about 1222 by the order of Earl Diether IV von Katzenelnbogen. The earliest mention of a castle on Urberg in the historical record appears in 1247, and the first document of the castle itself dates from 1257. In 1479 County Katzenelnbogen (including Auerbach Castle) passed to the Landgraviate of Hesse.

The castle lost much of its strategic importance during the 16th century until, by the time of the Thirty Years War, it was no longer in military use. In 1674 (during the 1672–1679 Franco-Dutch War) the castle was conquered and set afire by an army under French Marshal Turenne, killing local people who had sought protection within its walls. The abandoned castle became a ruin over the following years.

In 1820 the north tower of the castle collapsed, after which the Landgraviate of Hesse decided to secure (and partially rebuild) the ruins. In 1888 an inn was built in the former bailey, which was open year-round.

During the 1950s, the south tower became inaccessible due to the deterioration of its wooden staircase. In 1989, construction began on a terraced restaurant; it opened the following year, increasing the attraction of the castle ruins to visitors. In 2007, the stairway in the south tower was repaired and reopened to the public.

In 1258 a vineyard called the Grafenweinberg was recorded, and in 1318 one called the Reubere. There is still viticulture at the site today.

The triangular shape of the castle keep survives today. Between the wall (from the north to the south tower) and the inner courtyard were the kitchens, living quarters, stables and smithy. The original entrance, protected by a donjon, was in the wall between the north and former east tower. Between the wall (from the east to the south tower) and the inner courtyard were the grand hall, cellars and the castle chapel.

In the east corner of the inner courtyard lies the original well, drilled vertically through 62 metres (203 feet) of bedrock. The castle keep is surrounded by a ring wall which encloses the bailey. A further forecourt is enclosed by another ring wall. At the south side of this ring wall was the entrance to the estate. On 18 October 1356, a powerful earthquake shook the Rhine rift; the donjon collapsed onto the eastern and southeastern buildings. Beginning about 1370, large-scale reconstruction and expansion of the castle took place. The donjon was demolished, the entrance to the keep relocated and the northern shield wall was closed and raised. The entrance to the castle is now in the southwest corner, where it is protected by the south tower and an inner bailey.

A 4-metre (13-foot)-thick bastion was built in place of the east tower. This bastion (the first of its kind in Germany) was designed to protect the castle from cannon bombardment from the northeast. The north and south towers may have been raised at this time. These additional fortifications, ordered by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen, gave rise to the name Feste Urberg (Urberg Fort) and made Auerbach one of the most secure and modern castles in the world at that time.

Dinner theater and knights' tournaments (with medieval games) are regular features at the castle. Since spring 2007 the north and south towers are accessible to the public after extensive restoration.

Auerbach Castle

The Hinterburg is part of a series of four castles in a string along the Neckar River, just to the east of Heidelberg and near the village of Neckarsteinach.  These also include the Vorderburg ("Forward Castle"), Schadeck, also called the "Schwalbennest," or Swallows Nest, and the Mittelburg.  Hinterburg literally means "Behind Castle," but is more aptly translated as the "Concealed Castle."  It is indicative of its location and purpose, being essentially an advanced fortification to protect Neckarsteinach from the west and not readily visible from a distance.

The castle was started in the 1100s by the von Steinach family, and was the oldest of the four, serving a strategic purpose in allowing the lords to observe the Neckar and Steinachtal.  One of the earliest records mentions Bligger von Steinach, c 1160.  His son, Bligger II, who was also a famous minstrel of the time, added much of the outer wall that helped drastically improve the castle's defensive posture.  At one time it also had a dry moat with a drawbridge.  The castle continued to be used up until the 1600s, largely in the service of the Elector Palatine.   Afterwards it began to decay from neglect as it lost its importance in the era of cannon.  There is no indication that it was ever seriously besieged.  

To the right, two views of the castle from below, showing the defensive posture.  Placing the castle on a hill naturally made an assault difficult, but the Hinterburg was vulnerable from behind. 

Below, a view of the main entrance to the castle, with the tower beyond.  This entrance takes you into the outer ward, where there is another gate before you can enter the inner ward.

Below, left, the entrance to the inner ward.  The walls here are not too thick and are not designed to withstand bombardment.  However, they could deter a basic attack by brigands or an angry mob. 

Below, the same entrance but seen from above, at the walkway entrance to the tower.  An examination of the wall at the right indicates there was at least one additional story here, with the Gothic windows providing natural light for the lower story.  The lower wall facing the river was also thicker than that facing the outer ward (on the left).  The wall for the upper story is clearly quite thin, being only about a foot thick.

The castle has some interesting semi-underground passages that lead to various defensive battlements.  These provide an interesting glimpse into life in a medieval castle (dark and damp!) and how they were defended.  In this case, the loophole below is small and narrow, and does not provide much windage for the use of a crossbow or arblast.  Therefore, it was probably designed more for observation than as a fighting position.

http://castlesingermany1.homestead.com/


Hinterburg
(Alt-Schadeck)

Die Vorderburg, auch Landschadenburg genannt, ist eine mittelalterliche Höhenburg auf 155 m ü. NN bei Neckarsteinach im Landkreis Bergstraße in Hessen. Sie ist die drittälteste der vier Burgen Vorderburg, Mittelburg, Hinterburg und Schwalbennest.

Geschichte

Um 1200 wurde die Burg von Ulrich I. von Steinach, Sohn des Minnesängers Bligger II. von Steinach, erbaut. Die Burg war jeweils zur Hälfte Lehen des Bistums Speyer und des Bistums Worms. Nachdem 1268 die ältere Linie der Herren von Steinach mit Bligger V. ausgestorben war, kam die Burg an die jüngere Linie der Landschad von Steinach. 1393 wurde der Speyerer Anteil (Steinernes Haus mit halbem Turm) an Henne Triegel von Daudenzell und dessen Sohn Hans entlehnt. 1427 wurde ein Burgfrieden zwischen dem Teil der Landschad und dem Triegelschen Teil geschlossen, jedoch erscheint alsbald im Speyrer Teil ein Eberhard von Angelach als Speyrer Amtmann und Lehensträger sowie bald darauf Weiprecht III. von Helmstatt, der auch Anteile an der Hinterburg und der Mittelburg besaß. 1474 erscheinen die Landschad wieder als Besitzer der gesamten Vorderburg, die überwiegend als Sitz der von Hans IV. († 1571) begründeten Hansischen Linie benutzt wurde und nach dem Tode seines Enkels Dieter VIII. 1625 an Friedrich Landschad von Steinach kam, mit dem 1653 das Adelsgeschlecht erlosch.

Nach dem Aussterben der Landschad zogen die Stifte Worms und Speyer den früheren Lehensbesitz (Hinterburg, Vorderburg und halbe Mittelburg) wieder ein, unterstellten ihn kurz der Selbstverwaltung und übertrugen ihn 1657 Wolf-Heinrich von Metternich zu Burscheid als Lehen. Dieser erwarb im selben Jahr von Dieter VIII. Landschads Tochter Eva Elisabeth auch den früheren Landschad-Allodialbesitz und ebenso die restliche Hälfte der Mittelburg von den Freiherren von Venningen, so dass ab der späten Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts der Besitz der vier Burgen wieder in einer Hand vereinigt war. Nach dem Aussterben der Metternich-Linie 1753 wurden die früheren Lehen und sogar der früheren Allodialbesitz von den Stiften Speyer und Worms eingezogen. 1803 kam der gesamte Besitz im Rahmen der Mediatisierung an das Land Hessen, das die Vorderburg einem Dr. Wegerich verkaufte. Nachdem der Erbe des Allodialbesitzes, Freiherr von Dorth, durch einen Vergleich mit dem Land Hessen die als Amtssitz benutzte Mittelburg auch die Ruine der Hinterburg erhalten hatte, erwarb er auch die Vorderburg von Dr. Wegerich. 1910 verzichteten die Herren von Dorth auf die Ruine der Hinterburg, die darauf wieder an den hessischen Staat fiel. Mittel- und Vorderburg gelangten beim Tode des letzten Freiherrn von Dorth, Ludwig, im Jahre 1925 an den Sohn seines vor ihm verstorbenen Adoptivsohns Alexander, Boemund Freiherr von Warsberg-Dorth, dessen Nachfahren die Burgen bis heute besitzen.



Vorderburg (Neckarsteinach)

Dilsberg Castle (German: Bergfeste Dilsberg) is a castle on a hill above the River Neckar in Neckargemünd, Germany. The castle was built by the counts of Lauffen in the 12th century. In the 13th century it became the main castle for the counts. In the 14th century it became part of the Electorate of the Palatinate and received town rights in 1347. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was considered impregnable until Imperial forces under Tilly took the castle in 1622 after a long siege. In 1799, French forces tried and failed to storm the castle. A 46-metre-deep well helped keep the defenders supplied during this assault. In the 19th century the castle fell into ruin and was used as a quarry. Today the castle and its town are a tourist attraction and are administered by the Staatliche Schösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg, attracting thousands of visitors.

Dilsberg Castle

Schloss Schwetzingen, or Schwetzingen Palace is a schloss in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Schwetzingen was the summer residence of the Electors Palatine Charles III Philip and Charles IV Theodore (of the House of Wittelsbach). It is situated in Schwetzingen, roughly equidistant from the electors' seats at Heidelberg and Mannheim, and is most notable for its spacious and ornate gardens. Other than these exceptionally well preserved gardens and the palace proper, the compound also features the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen, the principal venue for the annual Schwetzingen Festival.

The main building replaces a 17th-century hunting lodge built on the foundations of an older moated castle of which it also retains some foundations and walling (hence the slightly irregular layout). It was built in its current form in several building campaigns between 1700 and 1750, in part to plans of the Heidelberg architect, Johann Adam Breunig. Construction began in the reign of Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz, for whom the palace was not yet to be an official summer residence, but a simple hunting lodge. However, an ornate, if comparatively modestly scaled first garden was laid out at the same time, which was retained and embellished by Karl Philip. When the new, greatly expanded gardens of Charles Theodore began to take shape in the 1750s and 60s, plans were commissioned from the court architect, Nicolas de Pigage, for a new palace that would have been of a scale on a par with its surroundings. However, mostly due to concurrent projects that siphoned off funds (the completion of the gigantic new residential palace at Mannheim and the reconstruction of Schloss Benrath), nothing came of these plans. As a result, the modest building as it stands today is completely overwhelmed by the garden's sheer size and magnificence. It would, therefore, be more appropriate to call it "the gardens and palace of Schwetzingen", and not the reverse.

Much of the original interior decoration and furnishings survive. Following a major restoration effort in the late 20th century, several of the electoral and ducal apartments are now back in the state their previous occupants would have known. These rooms may not have the supreme splendour found elsewhere in German princely dwellings, but they do convey a particularly vivid image of the court's everyday life. The building was too small to also accommodate the reception rooms required for the gatherings of the court. These - comprising two large halls and the theater- were instead incorporated into the two symmetrical curved outbuildings (the Zirkelbauten) on the garden front, initially intended to serve only as orangeries.

During the second half of the 18th century, when the current Schwetzingen garden was created, the "French" formal garden was gradually being supplanted by the "English" landscape garden as the prevalent style of gardening. The numerous princely estates in the Holy Roman Empire were quick to pick up the change, often remodelling older gardens according to the new taste. The Schwetzingen garden perhaps uniquely reflects this fundamental change in attitude, as its creators actually sought to reconcile the two conflicting styles. Accordingly, while the oldest portions are strictly formal, the newer ones subsequently introduced more "natural" features. However, great care was taken so that the finished work would still form a coherent whole. As a result, Schwetzingen is sometimes described as the principal surviving example of an intermediary style, the "anglo-chinese" garden, but in its diversity actually transcends the boundaries of that particular - and short-lived - style.

The first plan, devised by the gardener Petrie of Zweibrücken, introduced one highly unusual motive, namely the layout of the main parterre as a full circle. This remains unchanged and is a prominent feature that distinguishes Schwetzingen from most contemporary creations. Other than that, the first design was fairly conventional, even somewhat antiquated, in character.It appears to have relied heavily on French theorist Dezallier d'Argenville's influential textbook Théorie et practique du jardinage, with a certain penchant for the less revolutionary solutions Dezallier d'Argenville proposed; as a case in point, the design of the parterre's broderie ("embroidery") plantings, pretty though it is, looks rather timid when compared to some of d'Argenville's bolder suggestions.

Under the auspices of Nicolas de Pigage, the garden's plan was thoroughly updated and substantially expanded, all the while preserving most of its original features. Unlike his predecessor, Pigage was familiar with the latest developments in style. Most of the designs he prepared for Schwetzingen, spanning a period of more than twenty years, have to be considered progressive and up-to-date. However, not all of them were carried out, and as time progressed, the prince's (and possibly also the architect's) reluctance to make a full switch towards the "English" style also provoked critical scorn (most notably from the garden-design theorist Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld). Exempt from Hirschfeld's criticism were only the numerous fabriques that Pigage built in various parts of the garden. The outstanding architectural quality of these small, yet elaborate, buildings was universally acknowledged (Hirschfeld, in fact, objected mostly to their number - he would have preferred fewer of them). On the newer, more fully developed landscaped portions, Pigage collaborated closely with the up-and-coming garden designer Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell.

The sculpture throughout the garden is of varied quality, with a few mediocre decorative pieces, salvaged from the earlier garden and various other locations, as well as some impressive works by Gabriël Grupello and Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, among others. One sculpture in particular, a depiction of Pan sitting atop a cliff and playing his flute, was very highly regarded in its time. It is a work by the Mannheim sculptor, Peter Simon Lamine. A similar statue, by the same master, was unveiled some twenty years later at Nymphenburg Palace. Most of the sculpture within the parterre, and some of the works scattered elsewhere, was acquired at auction in the 1760s. Most of it is the work of then-celebrated French artist Barthélemy Guibal and had previously adorned the Lunéville palace of the deposed Polish king Stanisław Leszczyński. The majority of the sculpture is now replaced with modern replicas to avoid further degradation. The originals are on display within the premises themselves, in the "new orangery" building.

Much like the gardens, the theatre is in many ways a synthesis of conflicting styles. Originally built in 1753, to the plans of Nicolas de Pigage (1723 - 1796)and in a very short time, it could be considered a pure rococo creation. In the course of a later refurbishment, this was blended with early neoclassical tendencies. In its first state, the theatre, following the example of French court theatres of the time, did not have boxes (these were a staple of "Italian" theatres). In order to enlarge it, the auditorium's back wall was then pierced with a row of arcades, thus creating a more "box-like" impression. As a result, the theatre can, at least visually, also be considered a combination of the customary "French" and "Italian" layouts, even if the adjustment was, in this case, made mostly for practical reasons. As with the garden, the overall effect is very homogeneous as well as esthetically pleasing. Well into the 20th century, the theatre had preserved its original stage machinery. This was then lost and replaced with modern facilities, first in the 1950s, and again in the 1970s, when the backstage area was also expanded.

The mosque (German: “Moschee”) in the gardens complex is the earliest mosque-style building in Germany. It was built in 1779–1791 by a French architect for the Prince Elector of the Palatinate. Built at a time when the “Turkish” style was fashionable in Germany, it was never intended for prayer but later served religious purposes at various times.

After many years of restoration, and at great expense, the mosque is fully restored and open to the public.



Schwetzingen Palace

The Alsbacher Schloss near Alsbach-Hähnlein on Bergstrasse , in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district , is more of a fortress and was previously called Burg Bickenbach .

History

Bickenbach Castle was built around 1235 by the Lords of Bickenbach on the 257 m high hill above the village of Alsbach, which was first mentioned in 773 in the Lorsch Codex . The predecessor was probably a moth near Alsbach, on the so-called hamlet hill . Since the 14th century, the castle was a Ganerbeburg in the joint possession of six owners. After one of the heirs, Hartmann (also Hamman ) Ulner von Dieburg , robbed merchants of the city of Frankfurt am Main , the city overran the castle in 1463 and burned it down. However, the facility was soon rebuilt.

From 1483 to 1502, one of the heirs , Erasmus Schenk von Erbach († 1503), managed to buy out almost all of the other heirs (including the Archbishop of Mainz and the Counts of Mansfeld) and to bring the castle and rule into his own possession to 5/6 , and from 1488 he called himself "Herr zu Erbach und Bickenbach".

When in the year 1504, the Landshut War of Succession , the so-called "Bavarian feud" broke out, was Rupert of the Rhine because of its Erbstreits with Duke Albrecht IV. Of Bavaria on April 23 by King Maximilian I with the outlawed occupied. Landgrave Wilhelm II of Hesse , entrusted by Maximilian with the execution of the eight, first took the Palatinate Castle Otzberg and then besieged the Alsbach Castle , since the taverns from Erbach were Palatinate vassals. The castle commandant Hans Gans von Otzberg did not let a storm come off and handed the keys of the castle to the landgrave on June 9, 1504. After the end of the War of Succession, Landgrave Wilhelm no longer gave the castle and the Bickenbach office . Wilhelm's son Philip the Magnanimous had the defense works repaired and reinforced. In his will he transferred the castle and the office of Bickenbach to his sons from his morganatic marriage with Margarete von der Saale , the Count of Diez . You seem to have had it in your hands as early as 1562. After the last of the Counts von Diez died in 1575, the property fell to Landgrave Georg I of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1577 .

In the course of the 17th century, but especially in the 18th century, the castle fell into disrepair, so that today the complex is only preserved as a ruin .

The main castle was laid out in a classic triangular shape. Parts of the outer curtain wall and a narrow kennel are also preserved. Most impressive is certainly the mighty - restored - keep , which is accessible from the defensive wall.

Historical and cultural development association Schloss Alsbach e. V.

Today, the facility is run by the Citizens' Association of Historic and Cultural Förderverein Schloss Alsbach e. V. , who has been managing the facility since 2000 on behalf of the State of Hesse. Numerous events are held to finance the maintenance of the castle. The association was founded on September 18, 1997 by the Alsbach heraldist and historian Dieter Krieger on the recommendation of the property management of the State of Hesse (state property management), the historical and cultural development association Schloss Alsbach . He has set himself the goal of promoting the castle ruins, maintaining, maintaining, beautifying and restoring them. Furthermore, the association aims to present the Hessian cultural property, Schloss Alsbach, to the visitors through cultural events and make it a popular and worth seeing excursion destination for the whole family. The association has been managing the castle independently since 2000.

Castle garden

Several herb gardens were set up in the entrance area and in the outer bailey. They are divided into a historical part with herbs from the garden of Hildegard von Bingen and the Capitular Emperor Charlemagne and a modern garden with modern herbs. There is also a rosarium with historical scented roses and a medieval grass bank, as well as a vineyard. Every year around 200 half-liter bottles of the castle wine "Barbakan" are bottled from the Regent vine .


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