Schwarzenfeld Castle () is a historic castle in

Schwarzenfeld Schwarzenfeld is a municipality in the district of Schwandorf (district), Schwandorf in Bavaria, Germany. Schwarzenfeld was first mentioned as “Suarzinvelt” on April 17, 1015 in a deed of gift from Emperor Henry II to the diocese of Bamberg. I ...

in the district of

Schwandorf Schwandorf is a town in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria, Germany, which is the seat of the Schwandorf (district), Schwandorf district. It lies on the river Naab. Geography Geographical location Schwandorf is located at the intersection of ...

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (; , , ) is an administrative district in the east of Bavaria, Germany. It consists of seven districts and 226 municipalities, including three cities. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and nume ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was the home of noble Holnstein family, including Count

Maximilian von Holnstein Maximilian Carl Theodor, Count von Holnstein aus Bayern (19 October 1835 – 1 February 1895) was a German nobleman who was a playmate of princes Ludwig and Otto (both later kings of Bavaria), and friend of Ludwig on his accession as Ludwig II. C ...

, a close advisor to King

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...

History

The history of the Schwarzenfeld Castle goes back to the first half of the second millennium. Schwarzenfeld is first mentioned in 1015 in a deed of donation from

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

to the

Diocese of Bamberg The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bamberg (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Bambergensis'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Bavaria, one of 27 in Germany. In 2015, 32.9% of the population identified as Catholic, and 15.6% o ...

(which Henry II created from parts of the

Diocese of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

and

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

). Schwarzenfeld Castle was built by Conrad Pullenhofer on the

Naab __NOTOC__ The Naab (Czech: ''Nába'') is a river in Bavaria, Germany. This 97.5 kilometer long river is a left tributary of the Danube. Its average discharge at the mouth is . The Naab is formed by the confluence of the Waldnaab and the Hai ...

(a tributary of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

) in 1372. In 1389, the noble family of Plankenfelser, who came from

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

, took over the Castle. At the end of the 16th century, the Teuffel von Pirkensee family bought the estate, which had been devastated during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

along with the village of

Holnstein family

After changing hands several more times, Count Maximilian Joseph von Holnstein, the hereditary governor of the

, acquired Schwarzenfeld in 1789. Count Holnstein was a grandson of Emperor Charles VII of Bavaria (by his mistress Maria Caroline Charlotte von Ingenheim), and was married to Princess Maria Josepha of

Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst was a County, and later Principality in northeastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name Hohenlohe derives from the castle of Hohenloch near Uffenheim in Mittelfranken, which came into the possession of the ...

(eldest daughter of Prince Charles Albert II). After Count Holnstein died in 1824, Schwarzenfeld was inherited by his son, Count Carl Theodor von Holnstein, the first husband of celebrated beauty

Caroline von Holnstein Baroness Caroline von Spiering, Countess von Holnstein, Baroness von Künsberg (8 May 1815, Schloss Fronberg, Fronberg Castle, Schwandorf – 24 July 1859, Fronberg Castle, Schwandorf) was a German noblewoman, best known for her appearance in th ...

of Schloss Fronberg. Upon the death of Count Carl in 1857, Schwarzenfeld was inherited by his only son, Count

, the most famous member of the von Holnstein family. Between 1890 and 1892, Holnstein had Julius Hofmann (the engineer behind

Neuschwanstein Castle Neuschwanstein Castle (, ; ) is a 19th-century Historicism (art), historicist palace on a rugged hill of the foothills of the Alps in the very south of Germany, near the border with Austria. It is located in the Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia regio ...

) rebuild and enlarge the castle to include its outbuildings and the two towers in the "

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

" style. Holnstein retired to his castle in Schwarzenfeld in 1893 and lived there until his death in 1895. Count Holnstein's widow Maximiliane (née Baroness von Gumppenberg-Pöttmes) lived in the castle until 1907 when the family moved to

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...

. The Castle remained unused for a long period of time apart from several short-term leases. In 1934, Maximilian's grandson, Count Ludwig Maximilian von Holnstein (1897–1966), sold the castle to the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

of Schwarzenfeld.

Present day

The castle changed hands frequently, including to the

National Socialist People's Welfare The National Socialist People's Welfare (, NSV) was a social welfare organization during the Third Reich. The NSV was originally established in 1931 as a small Nazi Party-affiliated charity, which was active locally in the city of Berlin. On 3 Ma ...

, before a major fire broke out on 25 June 1982. In 1995, Hans Nabburg sold the castle ruins to investors who converted it into a conference hotel with the foundation stone being laid on 15 September 1995 by the Bavarian Prime Minister

Edmund Stoiber Edmund Rüdiger Stoiber (born 28 September 1941) is a German politician who served as the 16th minister-president of the state of Bavaria between 1993 and 2007 and chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU) between 1999 and 2007. In 2002, he ...

. Today the Castle is the site of the Annual Shell Show and Fair, and continues to operate as a convention center and luxury hotel.

Gallery

Schloss Schwarzenfeld 1681.pdf, Map of Schwarzenfeld, Schloss Schwarzenfeld ret old.jpg, Photograph of the castle, 2008 Schloss Schwarzenfeld1.jpg, Photograph of the castle, 2008 Schloss Schwarzenfeld 001.jpg, Photograph of the castle, 2017 Schloss Schwarzenfeld 008.jpg, Detail of the tower of the castle, 2017

References

External links

Official homepage
(in English)

(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarzenfeld Castle Castles in Bavaria Palaces in Bavaria Buildings and structures in Schwandorf (district)