Schloss Ballmertshofen
Encyclopedia
Dischingen
Dischingen is a municipality in the district of Heidenheim in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The municipality consists of several smaller villages that have been absorbed into Dischingen including; Dischingen, Ballmertshofen, Demmingen, Dunstelkingen, Eglingen, Frickingen, Trugenhofen and...
in the Heidenheim district
Heidenheim (district)
Heidenheim is a district in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Ostalbkreis, Dillingen, Günzburg, Alb-Donau and Göppingen.-History:...
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...
in Germany. It is located in the south east corner of Ballmertshofen on the road to Giengen
Giengen
Giengen is a historic city in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated in the district of Heidenheim, north-east of Ulm, at the southern foot of the Swabian Alb....
and Dattenhausen. The castle is owned by the community and includes a local art gallery.
History
The first castle on this site most likely dates from the 12th Century. It is first mentioned in 1236 when GrafGraf
Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
(Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
) von Dillingen gave the castle to Neresheim Abbey
Neresheim Abbey
Neresheim Abbey or the Abbey of Saints Ulrich and Afra, Neresheim is located above the town of Neresheim in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany...
. As a further evidence, in 1987 a cistern
Cistern
A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...
from this era was discovered under the south east wall of the castle.
The castle changed hands several times in the following centuries. It was owned by the von Hürnheim family from 1256–1368. Then the von Westerstetten
Westerstetten
Westerstetten is a village in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Geography :Westerstetten is situated in the Lone valley on the Swabian Alb roughly north of Ulm.-Neighbouring Villages:...
family held the castle from 1368 until 1442. The hospital in Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
and the von Westernach family held it from 1512 until 1538.
During the middle of the 16th Century, the castle was rebuilt as a Schloss (a fortified home rather than a pure defensive structure) by the von Leonrodt family that ruled from 1535 until 1637. In 1637 the von St. Vincent family took over the Schloss. Nearly a century later, in 1749, Johann Rupert von St. Vincent sold the feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
estate and castle to the Princely house of Thurn und Taxis
Thurn und Taxis
The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis is a German family that was a key player in the postal services in Europe in the 16th century and is well known as owners of breweries and builders of many castles.- History :...
. Until 1851 the castle was used by the princes' Chief Hunter and later as a princely rental property. In 1865 the community of Ballmertshofen received the Schloss, which was used as a school and town hall. Following the beginning of World War II, in 1940, the castle was used as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp.
In 1959 the school was moved out of the castle to a newly built School. By the 1970s the last renter moved out of the building, leaving it empty. In 1968 the city offices were removed and the severely neglected building was used as a local art gallery. Starting in 1986, a series of renovations took place to clean up and improve the building. At one point the castle had an octagonal tower in the south east corner, but that has been removed
Location
Ballmertshofen lies to the south of Dischingen and is about 469 m above sea level. The village has a population of 519. It is about 23 km from the district capital of Heidenheim. Ballmertshofen is also one of the most easterly cities in Baden-Württemberg.Ländliche Bildergalerie
The Ländliche Bildergalerie or rural living art gallery was opened on 16 April 1978 with the art collection of a Dischingen dentist, Dr. Horst Moeferdt. The collection is open every Sunday from 11 am to 12 pm.The collection includes art from the entire Härtsfeld region and includes a variety of rural art. Religious pictures from the local catholic population include guardian angels
Guardian angel (spirit)
A guardian angel is an angel assigned to protect and guide a particular person or group. Belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity...
, Christ on the Mount of Olives and Madonna with roses. From evangelical
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
areas there are pictures of baptism and of marriage. A center piece of this collection is the Haarbilder, a collection scriptural quotes surrounding flowers made from the hair of children who died young. From the era of the Kaiser
Kaiser
Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of a branch of the gens Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar,...
, before World War I, the so-called Reservistenbilder (or Reservist
Reservist
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed...
pictures) show the call for order and new soldiers for the impending war.