The current baroque palace, Schloss Werneck, designed by Balthasar Neumann, was built in 1733–45 by Prince Bishop Friedrich Karl von Schönborn. For half a century it was, with Veitshöchheim, a summer residence of the Bishops of Würzburg.
Beginning in 1853, the palace was converted into a hospital for the mentally ill. The hospital is thus one of the oldest psychiatric institutions in Germany. In 1940, the approximately 800 patients were murdered on the orders of Otto Hellmuth, Gauleiter of Mainfranken, as part of the Nazi elimination of mentally ill and handicapped people, Action T4.
Today the grounds of the palace, including the Baroque garden and English-style park, may be visited, as may part of the palace, chiefly the chapel, which dates to 1744.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.