Bad Mergentheim Castle, Bad Mergentheim, Germany

The castle of Mergentheim was the residence of the Grand Masters of German Teutonic Order from 1525-1809. In 1996 the museum was opened with around 3000 m² of exhibition space. The 800-year history of the German Teutonic Order from 1190 to the present day is illustrated with objects, works of art and models.

The castle has a rich architectural history. There are Romanesque structural elements (residential quarter covered footpaths), Renaissance (Berwart staircase), Rococo (gods room) and Classicism (chapter hall). The jewel of the residence is the castle church, for which artists such as Balthasar Neumann and François de Cuvilliès were called in to assist with the building.

The first buildings of the castle were probably erected as early as the 12th century. The castle was expanded in the late 16th century under Grand Master Walter von Cronberg. Over the course of time a representative Renaissance complex was built by connecting the individual buildings in the inner palace courtyard to a closed ring of buildings. In 1574, the main architect, Blasius Berwart, also constructed the spiral staircase between the west and north wing still famous today.

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Bad Mergentheim

User Reviews

Zsuzsanna Szótér (2 years ago)
The few authetic rooms in 2 floor are nice. The museum shows the story of the city and there is an exchibition of history of German orders. For a none german speaker the museum is less attractive as only few tables are in English.

Kevin Smith (2 years ago)
Nice place. Interesting building and history

Holly Fischer (3 years ago)
The dollhouse collection from the 1800 and 1900s was a highlight for me. Overall very nice collections in an interesting, historic castle.

Marc Van Goidsenhoven (4 years ago)
All information, panels, ect are only in German. Even people don't understand an other language. It's to expensive with this low level of service.

Jamilé Sh Deeb (4 years ago)
Nice place to visit and relax

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Sigmaringen Castle

Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.

The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.

These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.

Bad Mergentheim Castle

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