Ramholz Castle () is a German

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

located in the hamlet of Ramholz in the Vollmerz district of the town of

Schlüchtern Schlüchtern () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig (Main), Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda. Schlüchtern has a population close to 16,000. Location Schlüchtern is locat ...

, around 40 kilometres southwest of

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

. The castle and park are cultural monuments according to the .

History

Ramholz was first mentioned in 1167 as the manor (

curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

) of the

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

ial line of Hermann von Steckelberg. Upon the fall of the Lords of Steckelberg at the beginning of the 14th century, their properties were divided among six heirs, including the

Ulrich von Hutten Ulrich von Hutten (21 April 1488 – 29 August 1523) was a German knight, scholar, poet and satire, satirist, who later became a follower of Martin Luther and a Protestant reformer. By 1519, he was an outspoken criticism, critic of the Roman Cat ...

. In 1501, a new building, called the "Old Castle", was built there as the residence of the von Hutten family, who had owned the complex since 1482. The Hutten castle is preserved as part of Ramholz Castle and has architectural features such as

stepped gables A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet, parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is sta ...

and a stair tower. By 1642, Philipp Daniel von Hutten (d. 1687) owned all the Hutten estates but was forced by financial difficulties caused by war to mortgage his properties in Ramholz and Vollmerz to his brother-in-law, Casimir Carl von Landas. When von Landas died without issue, his father, the

Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...

Church Council President Carl von Landas, inherited the property which passed to his brother, Johann Friedrich von Landas, Electoral Palatinate and Privy Councilor. After his death in 1677, the property passed to his daughter Amalie ( von Landas), wife of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Maximilian von Degenfeld. In 1698, the Counts of

Degenfeld Degenfeld is a part of Schwäbisch Gmünd in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It borders Weiler in den Bergen to the north, Lauterstein to the south and east and two districts of Waldstetten (Weilerstoffel and Tannweiler) to the west. History Dege ...

inherited the property. They held it until 1852 when Counts August Christoph, Gustav Christoph and Adolf von Degenfeld sold the castle and to Prince Ernst Casimir of Ysenburg and Büdingen of the House of Ysenburg-Büdingen.

Stumm ownership

In 1883 Hugo Rudolf Stumm (later ennobled as Baron von Stumm-Ramholz in 1888) acquired the estate and purchased the ruins of

Steckelberg Castle Steckelberg Castle () is a ruined hill castle near Ramholz (Schlüchtern), Ramholz, in the borough of the East Hesse, Hessian town of Schlüchtern in Germany. Location The ruins of the old castle lie east of Vollmerz and northeast of Ramholz ...

tp protect them from further decay. Stumm had become very wealthy as a silent partner in the Stumm Brothers company and, in competition with his brothers, Carl Ferdinand von Stumm-Halberg and Ferdinand Eduard von Stumm, who also had magnificent castles built (

Halberg Castle Halberg Castle () is a German schloss, castle built between 1877 and 1880 on Halberg mountain near Saarbrücken. The castle is located in the area of the former municipality of Brebach, which was merged with Fechingen to form Brebach-Fechingen in ...

and Rauischholzhausen Castle, respectively), greatly improved upon the ruins and existing manor house. Between 1893 and 1896, Baron von Stumm had

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

architects, and brothers, Emanuel and

Gabriel von Seidl Gabriel von Seidl (9 December 1848 – 27 April 1913) was a German architect and a representative of the historicist style of architecture. Early life, education and early career Gabriel Seidl was born in 1848 in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria. H ...

add a new building to the existing castle, as well as a farm yard incorporating buildings from the 18th century and houses for the employees and a power house to power the property. The grounds were designed by Swedish garden artist Jöns Persson Lindahl. The castle combined elements of

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

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 ...

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

and

Art Nouveau architecture Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and flo ...

. The former

orangery An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

housed a restaurant from 1997 to 2014. The castle, which was privately owned by Kühlmann-Stumm's descendants, was opened to the public for guided tours in 2012 before it was offered for sale for €7 million

Euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

. In 2014 the 115 room castle was acquired by a Chinese investor.

List of owners

* 1482–1698: von Hutten family * 1698–1790: Counts of

* 1790–1883: House of Ysenburg-Büdingen * 1883–1910: Hugo Rudolf von Stumm-Ramholz * 1910–1917: Marguerite von Kühlmann, Baroness von Stumm-Ramholz (daughter of Hugo Rudolf von Stumm-Ramholz) * 1917–1977:

Knut von Kühlmann-Stumm ''Knut'' Otto Christian Hans Konstantin Hubertus von Kühlmann-Stumm (17 October 1916 – 19 January 1977), was a German politician for the Free Democratic Party (Germany), Free Democratic Party who owned Ramholz Castle. Early life Kühlmann ...

(son of Marguerite von Stumm-Ramholz) * 1977–1997: Jutta von Stumm-Ramholz (widow of Knut von Kühlmann-Stumm) * 1997–2008: Magnus von Kühlmann (son of Knut von Kühlmann-Stumm) * 2008–2014: Maximilian von Kühlmann (son of Magnus von Kühlmann) * Since 2014: Entrepreneur from

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China.

References

External links

Schloss Ramholz
at Nomads Travel Guide {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramholz Castle Stumm family Castles in Hesse Buildings and structures in Main-Kinzig-Kreis

History

Stumm ownership

List of owners

See also

References

External links