The Romantic Road: Weikersheim

The Romantic Road in Germany extends from Würtzburg to Füssen. Along the way are lots of medieval towns with the old fortress walls and half-timbered Fachwerk houses. The most famous is the fairy-tale castle of Neuschwanstein. But we took the car to a little out-of-the-way place called Weikersheim. It is in the valley of the Tauber River, which is lined with wineyards. As you come up to the town, you enter through a little gateway, and suddenly you are surrounded by Fachwerk buildings. Straight ahead is the town square. As usual, there is a fountain and a church.





















The main attraction of Weikersheim is the Palace. Nobody knows exactly how old it is. The first documentation is of a meeting of the lords of Hohenlohe in 1153. Since the thirteenth century, Weikerheim was one of two seats for the two branches of the Hohenlohe family, but since the fifteenth century it is the only remaining seat. It was a moated castle until 1586 when Count Wolfgang rebuilt it in the Renaissance style. On the edge of the town square is the gate to the bridge over the moat.










Inside the courtyard is a well, of course. And it was decorated for Easter. But the nicest decorations were in the corner of the courtyard.



























Inside the palace there are three time periods represented: the oldest is Renaisance, followed by Baroque and Rococo. Count Wolfgang, who became famous for his alchemical experiments, and died in 1610 at the age of 64, never moved into the palace. But he left behind the centerpiece of his building project: The Knights' Hall (Rittersaal).














The worst period for the palace was during the 30-years War. In 1634 the palace was completely plundered. But the grandson of Count Wolfgang, Count Siegfried, started construction again in 1679. In 1709 Count Karl-Ludwig took the palace over, and over the next 50 years the palace and its Baroque garden took on its present shape.














Count Karl-Luwig died childless in 1756, and Schloss Weikersheim lost its significance, and it fell into disuse. Luckily for us, everything was left as it was on the day the Count moved out. All the furniture and decorations were left in their original locations. In 1967 the last heir sold the palace and everything in it to the state of Baden-Würtemburg for 5.5-million Marks.