Weikersheim Castle

Beautifully located in the Hohenlohe part of the picturesque Tauber valley, the Renaissance architecture of Weikersheim palace is at the centre of the village by the same name.

The lords of Hohenlohe are first mentioned in historical records as the lords of Wighartesheim in 1153. The village itself was an ancient imperial property and was first mentioned in 837 in a document from Fulda Monastery as the possession of Wipert von Wichhartesheim, a vassal of Würzburg. In the 12th century, it was donated to Comburg Monastery and remained under its suzerainty until it was sold to the lords of Hohenlohe in 1244.

Around 1153, the brothers Conrad and Heinrich of 'Wighartesheim' were first mentioned as the lords of a water castle, which they held as a fief from the monastery. It was a moated castle with a wide moat and a keep located next to the entrance from the village. The castle was likely built a few decades earlier. Conrad of Weikersheim had three sons: Albert, Conrad, and Heinrich. Albert appears around 1172 as 'Albertus de Hohenloch,' named after Hohlach Castle near Uffenheim. Heinrich also adopted the name 'von Hohenloch,' while Conrad used the name 'von Hohenlach' or 'Holach' in 1178 but later called himself 'von Weikersheim.' It is possible that Hohlach Castle came into the possession of Conrad of Weikersheim and his sons through marriage. Heinrich, the son, continued the main line of the Hohenlohe family. Conrad of Weikersheim, in turn, was possibly the son of the noble Conrad von Pfitzingen, documented in 1136/1141. His son Heinrich became the progenitor of the later generations of the Hohenlohe family. The name Weikersheim disappeared as a family name, perhaps because Weikersheim was initially a feudal property, while Hohlach was an allod or a Staufer fief, which became an imperial fief after the Staufer dynasty died out.

Until 1586, there were occasional renovations and expansions, but nothing significant changed at the (by then multiple times mortgaged) castle. However, in this year, Count Wolfgang II of Hohenlohe-Langenburg acquired Weikersheim through inheritance and moved his residence there. The educated and art-loving Renaissance prince, after traveling through France, England, and Austria, initiated extensive construction activities in his Hohenlohe estates. Weikersheim, situated in the Tauber Valley, provided ideal conditions for an extensive and representative palace. Incorporating older structures like the Staufer keep, which received a Baroque dome, construction of an expanded palace complex began in 1595. A new wing with a chapel and dining room set new spatial and iconographic standards. By the year 1605, the construction was essentially complete. The heart and masterpiece of the palace is the Knight's Hall, featuring a cantilevered roof structure created by Elias Gunzenhäuser, adorned with a coffered ceiling painted by Balthasar Katzenberger from Würzburg. The grand fireplace was crafted by the sculptor Michael Juncker. Inside the palace, the Count also had an alchemical laboratory, which received its own extension on the north side, with limited remnants still visible today. However, Count Wolfgang II, the driving force behind the construction, never moved his court into the new building. The old castle was not demolished. The Count passed away in 1610 at the age of 64.