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.

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 1525
Category: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Reformation & Wars of Religion (Germany)

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.