Dellmensingen Castle
Encyclopedia
Dellmensingen Castle is an early Baroque
castle in the Upper Swabia
n village of Dellmensingen, now part of the city of Erbach
, in the state of Baden-Württemberg
, Germany
.
.
, mentioned in the 15th century, of which no remains are visible today as it was completely demolished in 1809, and the Obere Burg (Upper Castle). Both castles were destroyed during the Thirty Years War.
When the owner of the village of Dellmensingen, Johann Karl von Stotzingen, canon
at Augsburg
and Regensburg
, died without there being a male successor in 1647, Ellwangen Abbey
, which had seignory
over the Lower Castle, attempted to expand its rights over the whole village, including the Upper Castle. This claim, however, was rejected by Emperor Ferdinand III
whereupon the ownership of the Upper Castle together with its rights over the village went to Georg Heinrich von Werdenstein, an official in the service of Kempten Abbey, in 1657. Consequently, Dellmensingen became the main seat of residence for the Barons
of Werdenstein. The dilapidated Lower Castle was rebuilt in Baroque style in 1685. It consisted not only of the actual castle building but also of stable
s, barn
s, bakery
, a cowshed and other agricultural buildings, surrounded by castle walls
. Castle Dellmensingen and its accompanying rights over the village remained in possession of the Barons of Werdenstein until 1796 when the last member of the family, Anton Christoph von Werdenstein, died without a male issue. The fiefdom
of Dellmensingen returned to the Emperor
.
During the German Mediatisation
nuns of Söflingen Abbey
, which was dissolved following its annexation by Bavaria
, found temporary refuge in the castle in 1809.
After Dellmensingen had become part of the newly founded Kingdom of Württemberg
, the castle was sold into private hands, first, in 1814, to two patricians from Biberach
, then to a citizen from the village of Asch
in 1840 and finally to Count Karl Viktor Reuttner von Weyl from Achstetten
in 1851.
Between March and August 1942 Castle Dellmensingen was used as a so-called retirement home
for Jews, where more than 100 elderly Jews were forced to live until their deportation to the death camps. 18 of the inhabitants died during their stay at the castle and were buried in the Jewish cemetery
in Laupheim
. In the autumn of 1942, the castle housed 23 families from Slovenia
who were thought by the SS
to be able to be Germanised. All of them returned to Slovenia in July 1945.
After the end of the Second World War
the castle served as accommodation for ethnic Germans expelled from Eastern Europe
and from 1947 until 1967 the charity organisation Caritas
utilised the premises as an old people's home.
The then independent municipality of Dellmensingen bought the castle in 1955 from the Counts of Achstetten. In 1971, Castle Dellmensingen changed into private hands, followed by extensive interior renovation
works.
.
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
castle in the Upper Swabia
Upper Swabia
Upper Swabia is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. The name refers to the area between the Swabian Alb, Lake Constance and the Lech...
n village of Dellmensingen, now part of the city of Erbach
Erbach an der Donau
Erbach an der Donau is a town on the Danube River in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Located in the Alb-Donau District, Erbach lies between Ulm and Ehingen an der Donau on the southern edge of the Swabian Alb.-History:...
, in the state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Appearance
Dellmensingen Castle is a plain and unadorned three-storey stone building, covered by a gabled roofGable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
.
History
For a long period of time there were two castles in Dellmensingen: the Untere Burg (Lower Castle), surrounded by a moatMoat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
, mentioned in the 15th century, of which no remains are visible today as it was completely demolished in 1809, and the Obere Burg (Upper Castle). Both castles were destroyed during the Thirty Years War.
When the owner of the village of Dellmensingen, Johann Karl von Stotzingen, canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
at Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
and Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
, died without there being a male successor in 1647, Ellwangen Abbey
Ellwangen Abbey
Ellwangen Abbey was the earliest Benedictine monastery established in the Duchy of Swabia, at the present-day town of Ellwangen an der Jagst, Baden-Württemberg about 100 km north-east of Stuttgart.-Imperial abbey:...
, which had seignory
Seignory
In English law, Seignory or seigniory , the lordship remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple....
over the Lower Castle, attempted to expand its rights over the whole village, including the Upper Castle. This claim, however, was rejected by Emperor Ferdinand III
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria.-Life:...
whereupon the ownership of the Upper Castle together with its rights over the village went to Georg Heinrich von Werdenstein, an official in the service of Kempten Abbey, in 1657. Consequently, Dellmensingen became the main seat of residence for the Barons
Freiherr
The German titles Freiherr and Freifrau and Freiin are titles of nobility, used preceding a person's given name or, after 1919, before the surname...
of Werdenstein. The dilapidated Lower Castle was rebuilt in Baroque style in 1685. It consisted not only of the actual castle building but also of stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
s, barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
s, bakery
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
, a cowshed and other agricultural buildings, surrounded by castle walls
Castle Walls
"Castle Walls" is a song by American rapper T.I., from his seventh studio album No Mercy. The song features Pop/R&B singer Christina Aguilera, and was produced by Alex da Kid....
. Castle Dellmensingen and its accompanying rights over the village remained in possession of the Barons of Werdenstein until 1796 when the last member of the family, Anton Christoph von Werdenstein, died without a male issue. The fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
of Dellmensingen returned to the Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
.
During the German Mediatisation
German Mediatisation
The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era....
nuns of Söflingen Abbey
Söflingen Abbey
Söflingen Abbey was a nunnery of the Order of Poor Ladies, also known as the Poor Clares, the Poor Clare Sisters, the Clarisse, the Minoresses, or the Second Order of St. Francis. It was situated in the village of Söflingen, now part of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany...
, which was dissolved following its annexation by Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
, found temporary refuge in the castle in 1809.
After Dellmensingen had become part of the newly founded Kingdom of Württemberg
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...
, the castle was sold into private hands, first, in 1814, to two patricians from Biberach
Biberach an der Riß
Biberach is a town in the south of Germany. It is the capital of Biberach district, in the Upper Swabia region of the German state of Baden-Württemberg...
, then to a citizen from the village of Asch
Blaubeuren
Blaubeuren is a town in the district of Alb-Donau near Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.It has 11.963 inhabitants as of December 2007.-Coat of arms:...
in 1840 and finally to Count Karl Viktor Reuttner von Weyl from Achstetten
Achstetten
Achstetten is a the northernmost municipality in the district of Biberach, in the region of Upper Swabia in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 30 September 2008, it has a population of 4.141....
in 1851.
Between March and August 1942 Castle Dellmensingen was used as a so-called retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
for Jews, where more than 100 elderly Jews were forced to live until their deportation to the death camps. 18 of the inhabitants died during their stay at the castle and were buried in the Jewish cemetery
Jewish cemetery
A Jewish cemetery is a cemetery where members of the Jewish faith are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition....
in Laupheim
Laupheim
Laupheim is a city in southern Germany in the state of Baden Württemberg. Laupheim was first mentioned in 778 and gained its city rights in 1869. One of the main trading routes, from Ulm to Ravensburg and then on towards Lake Constance ran through Laupheim...
. In the autumn of 1942, the castle housed 23 families from Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
who were thought by the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
to be able to be Germanised. All of them returned to Slovenia in July 1945.
After the end of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the castle served as accommodation for ethnic Germans expelled from Eastern Europe
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
and from 1947 until 1967 the charity organisation Caritas
Caritas (charity)
Caritas Internationalis is a confederate of 164 Roman Catholic relief, development and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide....
utilised the premises as an old people's home.
The then independent municipality of Dellmensingen bought the castle in 1955 from the Counts of Achstetten. In 1971, Castle Dellmensingen changed into private hands, followed by extensive interior renovation
Renovation
Renovation is the process of improving a structure. Two prominent types of renovations are commercial and residential.-Process:The process of a renovation, however complex, can usually be broken down into several processes...
works.
Current use
The interior of the castle has been separated into a number of flats and a business centre which offers office space for small companies. It also houses a public saunaSauna
A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
.