Affaltrach Castle

Affaltrach Castle, located in the Affaltrach district of the municipality of Obersulm in the Heilbronn district in northern Baden-Württemberg, dates back to a medieval commandery building of the Order of St. John, which, after numerous alterations in the 18th century, largely acquired its present appearance. The listed building, which came into private hands in the 19th century, has been part of the Affaltrach Castle Winery since 1928.

Affaltrach was first mentioned in 1262 on the occasion of the sale of a vineyard. Viticulture was probably practiced in the village or on the south-facing Keuper slopes of the Salzberg since ancient times. In the late 13th century, the village was owned by the Counts of Löwenstein and the Lords of Weinsberg. The Order of St. John acquired possessions in Affaltrach from Gottfried von Löwenstein in 1278, and in 1289 the Order also received the patronage rights over the Affaltrach church. In the same year, the Order built a first commandery house on the site of the present castle. The Affaltrach commandery initially belonged to the branch of the Order of St. John in Schwäbisch Hall and later became independent. Nikolaus von Löwenstein received the right from Emperor Ludwig IV on July 4, 1333, to elevate his village of Affaltrach to a city, which he, however, did not exercise. The commandery house was expanded into a castle in the 14th and 15th centuries, renewed on its present footprint between 1480 and 1507, and subsequently underwent many more alterations.

The castle and village were owned by the Order of St. John until Elector Friedrich of Württemberg took possession of the Affaltrach Commandery of St. John, along with all possessions of the Order of St. John in Württemberg, in December 1805. The last commander, Franz Konrad Josef Freiherr von Truchsess, Lord of Appenweier and Rheinfelden (1737–1826), who had expensively renovated the castle in 1788, thereby creating its present exterior, remained in office as royal sub-prior and patrimonial lord until his retirement in 1809. In 1812, he acquired the castle and associated properties from the Württemberg cameral administration as compensation.

In 1813, von Truchsess gifted the castle to his housekeeper, Madame Feil, and her daughter Anna Maria. Shortly before his death in 1825, he also gifted Anna Maria Feil's husband, the Imperial and Royal First Lieutenant Kaspar von Herling, claims for compensation from his lost possessions in France. After von Herling's death by poisoning on March 23, 1829, the castle passed to his daughters Nanette (wife of Neckarsulm's mayor Poccoroni) and Franziska (wife of Affaltrach's postmaster Hertling) in the inheritance division in November 1829. The community of heirs in turn sold the castle in 1875 to Johann Klaiber, who, after bankruptcy in 1898, sold it to Christian Haug. Through two further changes of ownership in 1900 (August Bräuninger) and 1917 (Hermann Weisse), the castle, along with its associated properties, finally came into the possession of the municipality of Affaltrach on November 14, 1928, which put it up for sale again on November 26, 1928.

The scope of the property was described in the municipality's 1928 advertisement as follows: Rarely favorable offer! Manorial seat. Castle under monument protection, in impeccable condition, 12 well-furnished rooms, bath, stables, large barn with large excellent cellar, adjoining 65 ares, possibly 120 hectares of vegetable and orchard in the most beautiful location of the Weinsberg Valley, train station, suitable for any purpose. The purchase price demanded by the municipality was 40,000 RM.

Already on December 10, 1928, a buyer was found in Willy Baumann (* 1884; † October 27, 1964), who intended to establish a winery in the castle. Baumann came from a family of tanners and wine merchants in Gaildorf, had operated an export house for early vegetable specialties in Paris before the First World War, was interned for five years after the First World War, and then took over his parents' business in Gaildorf. Since 1923, he had been married to Elisabeth Muth from Guntersblum, who came from a wealthy winegrowing family in Rheinhessen, which also financially enabled the purchase of the castle in Affaltrach. Baumann founded the Schlosskellerei Affaltrach, Willy Baumann, which was registered in the commercial register in Heilbronn in 1933. The company remains in family ownership to this day, now in its third generation, and has won numerous awards in Württemberg and national wine competitions, including the DLG Federal Honorary Award several times in the 1970s. In 1973, the winery produced a record wine with 292 degrees Oechsle. The founder's son and successor, Dr. Reinhold Baumann, was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 1976.

The castle building in the center of Affaltrach is surrounded by modern winery buildings.