Meßkirch Castle or Meßkirch Palace (also spelt "Messkirch", , ''Schloss der Grafen von Zimmern'' or ''Zimmernschloss'') is located in the town centre of

Meßkirch Meßkirch (; Swabian: ''Mässkirch'') is a town in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The town was the residence of the counts of Zimmern, widely known through Count Froben Christoph's '' Zimmern Chronicle'' (1559� ...

in the county of

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen ( Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowned for its castle, Schloss Sigmaringen, ...

in the German state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

. The castle is a

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

centre with castle tours, a county art gallery, a museum about philosopher

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...

, and the Oldtimer Museum with automobiles and motorcycles.

History

The castle's origins go back to around 1400. Froben Christoph von Zimmern reported in the

Zimmern Chronicle The Zimmern Chronicle (German: ''Zimmerische Chronik'' or ''Chronik der Grafen von Zimmern'') is a family chronicle describing the lineage and history of the noble family of Zimmern, based in Meßkirch, Germany. It was written in a Swabian variety ...

on the remodelling that his uncle, Gottfried Werner had carried out to the old castle beginning in 1520. These measures come in for heavy criticism. The shortcomings in the construction work meant that the castle fell into decay soon thereafter. This gave Froben Christoph also the justification to demolish the old castle completely and replace it with a new ''

schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cogn ...

''. On 9 May 1557, three years after his accession to power, the new lord of the castle laid the foundation stone for the new building. This is recorded on a capstone with the year 1557 in the town wing of the castle.Karlheinz Kirchmaier (khk): ''Die Kassettendecke im Schlosssaal besteht aus 85 einzelnen Elementen. Das Quiz ist Abschluss und Höhepunkt der Führung für junge Meßkircher.'' In: ''Schwäbische Zeitung.'' dated 24 August 2011 It is believed that Froben Christoph could have gained inspiration for the palace during his studies between 1534 and 1540 in France (

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

and

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

), but construction of the supposed prototype for Meßkirch Castle, Château d'Ancy-le-Franc, which had been completed by

Sebastiano Serlio Sebastiano Serlio (6 September 1475 – c. 1554) was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau. Serlio helped canonize the classical orders of architecture in his influential treatise ...

in 1545, Chateau Ancy-le-Franc in French Wikipedia. See also Château Ancy-le-Franc on Wikimedia Commons had not even begun at that time. The builder of Meßkirch Castle, Jörg Schwarzenberger, is mentioned in 1561 and again in 1566 in Meßkirch. Meßkirch Castle was the first regular, quadrangular

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

-style palace to be built north of the Alps.

Literature

* Gabriele Heidenreich: ''Schloss Meßkirch. Repräsentation adeligen Herrschaftsbewusstseins im 16. Jahrhundert.'' Bibliotheca-Academica-Verlag, Tübingen 1998, . * Hubert Krins: ''Schloss Meßkirch.'' Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 2001, .

References

External links

Meßkirch Castle

Meßkirch Castle Festival

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messkirch Castle Sigmaringen (district) Museums in Baden-Württemberg Renaissance architecture in Germany Fürstenberg family residences Automobile museums in Germany