Untersulmetingen Castle is a small castle-like

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 ...

structure in the village of

Untersulmetingen Untersulmetingen is a village which is part of the municipality of Laupheim, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Geography Besides the village itself, the hamlets Westerflach and Niederkirch belong to its administration. Most of Untersu ...

, now part of the municipality of

Laupheim Laupheim (; ) is a major district town in southern Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Laupheim was first mentioned in 778 and gained city rights in 1869. One of the main trading routes, from Ulm to Ravensburg and then on towards Lake ...

, in the 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 ...

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 ...

Location

The castle is situated at an elevation of 509 metres in the centre of the formerly independent village of Untersulmetingen. It is located on a slow slope of a

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front e ...

to the west of the river

Riß The Riss (, ) is a small river in Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, right tributary of the Danube. Its source is in Upper Swabia, between Bad Waldsee and Bad Schussenried. It flows north, through the town of Biberach an der Riss. It the ...

Appearance

Untersulmetingen Castle is a plain, three-storey building, covered by a large

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d roof which dates from around 1600. The

castle chapel Castle chapels () in European architecture are chapels that were built within a castle. They fulfilled the religious requirements of the castle lord and his retinue, while also sometimes serving as a burial site. Because the construction of suc ...

, which dates from 1608 and was dedicated to

Saint Othmar Othmar, (also ''Audomar'', 689 – 759) was a Medieval monk and priest. He served as the first abbot of the Abbey of St. Gall, a Benedictine monastery near where the city of St. Gallen, now in Switzerland, developed. Life Othmar was of Alema ...

, is decorated by

paintings Painting is a visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or " support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush. Other implements, ...

and

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

whose function it is to amalgamate the encompassed forms of the windows and paintings into a moving form.

History

A medieval castle was built around 1400. In March 1525 this castle was looted and burnt down by the

Baltringer Haufen The Baltringer Haufen (also spelled ''Baltringer Haufe'', German for Baltringen Band, Baltringen Troop or Baltringen Mob) was prominent among several armed groups of peasants and craftsmen during the German Peasants' War of 1524–1525. The n ...

during the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt () was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It was Europe's largest and most widespread popular uprising befor ...

. On the death of Georg von Sulmetingen in 1528, the indigenous local nobility became extinct, after which the castle and the village repeatedly changed hands. Between 1538 and 1542, Hieronymus Roth von Schreckenstein, a patrician from

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

, had a new castle built on the foundations of the previous one, destroyed during the Peasants' War. In 1551 Untersulmetingen Castle was acquired by

Johann Jakob Fugger Johann Jakob Fugger or Hans Jakob Fugger (23 December 1516, Augsburg - 14 July 1575, Munich) was a German banker and patron of the arts and sciences from the ''von der Lilie'' (''of the Lily'') line of the noted Fugger banking family. Life He wa ...

. His successors altered the castle fundamentally. Around 1600, the gabled roof was constructed. In 1608, Trajan Fugger added a

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

-style chapel to the castle. He invested a large sum to embellish the castle itself and its precinct, erecting a

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

, a castle garden, a

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

and several economy buildings. In 1729, the castle was mortgaged to

Ochsenhausen Abbey Ochsenhausen Abbey (formerly Ochsenhausen Priory; or ) was a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Ochsenhausen in the district of Biberach (district), Biberach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History The traditional story of the foun ...

which ultimately bought the castle in 1735. Between 1730 and 1732, Benedikt Denzel,

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Ochsenhausen Abbey, redesigned the interior of Untersulmetingen Castle as well as the castles'

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, employing prestigious artists such as

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Dominikus Hermenegild Herberger and painter

Franz Joseph Spiegler Franz Joseph Spiegler (5 April 1691 – 15 April 1757) was a German Baroque painter. He is best known for his frescoes, which decorate many of the churches and monasteries along the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. The frescoes in the Zwiefalten ...

. In 1803, after the dissolution of the monasteries during the

secularisation In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

, the castle went into the hands of Georg Karl von Metternich-Winneburg und Beilstein as compensation for territories lost to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

following

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's conquests. In 1805 he sold the castle to Karl Anselm von Thurn und Taxis. In December 1805 the village passed into the possession of the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

and in 1806 it was assigned to the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg ( ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg, which existed from 1803 to 1806. Geogr ...

. Karl Anselm von Thurn und Taxis remained lord of the castle until the feudal tenure was abolished later on. From that time the castle was allocated to the local priest who used it as his residence until 1969, when it was sold into private hands. In 1979 and in 2000, the castle chapel was renovated.

Current use

Today the castle is privately owned. The chapel is home of the local administration. A

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibise ...

's nest is situated on top of one of the chimneys.

References

External links

History of Untersulmetingen (''in German'')
{{Authority control Laupheim