Burg Katzenstein
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...
. The castle is open to visitors and contains several dining rooms as well as hotel rooms.
Location
The castle is located in a side valley of the river Egua, near the old Roman roadRoman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
Faimingen–Oberdorf bei Bopfingen
Bopfingen
Bopfingen is a small city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Ostalbkreis, between Aalen and Nördlingen. It consists of the city Bopfingen itself and its suburbs Aufhausen, Baldern, Flochberg, Kerkingen, Oberdorf, Schloßberg, Trochtelfingen, and Unterriffingen.Bopfingen is famous...
(also known as the Frankensträßle or Frankish Avenue). The castle is situated about 538 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
History
In 1099 the Lords von Cassenstein were first mentioned. The family was a MinisterialisMinisterialis
Ministerialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...
or unfree knight family in the service of the Graf
Graf
Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
(or 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. In 1262 Edlen von Hürnheim was listed as the owner of the castle von Katzenstein when it was sold by Hermann von Hürnheim-Katzenstein.
Ownership changed again in 1354 when the Graf von Oettingen acquired the castle. He quickly pawned the castle on the Graf von Helfenstein
House of Helfenstein
The House of Helfenstein was a German noble family during the High and Late Middle Ages. The family was named after the family castle, Castle Helfenstein, located above Geislingen an der Steige in the Swabian Alb region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany...
, who gave the castle to Berthold von Westerstetten in 1382. In 1572 the Katzenstein line wiped out the Westerstetten line. The inheritance of the Westerstetten family was sold again to the von Oettingen family.
The castle was burned to the ground by French soldiers in 1648, at the end of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. The castle was rebuilt in 1669.
Burg Katzenstein went to the Oettingen-Wallenstein line in 1798. Then in 1810 the castle was taken over by the state of Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
and placed under the district of Neresheim
Neresheim
Neresheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated northeast of Heidenheim, and southeast of Aalen....
.
Since 1939 the castle has been privately owned.
Sights
In 1973 the St Laurentius chapel was opened and cleaning began. Under the dirt and partially completed Baroque paintings, impressive MediaevalHigh Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
paintings were discovered. The fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
paintings date from 1250 to 1280 and show the transition from Romanesque art
Romanesque art
Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...
to early Gothic art
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
.