Burgpreppach Castle

The three-winged castle complex stands on a platform of ashlar and is surrounded by a – now largely dry – moat. The courtyard of honor opens to the south. The side wings are connected by single-story, enclosed arcades with the two double-story entrance pavilions. Outside, a masonry bridge spans the former moat. Despite the missing upper floors and exterior plaster, the complex appears very representative and reveals the planning by important master builders of Franconian Baroque. Among the guardians of the underage first owner was also the Würzburg Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp von Greiffenclau-Vollraths, who was himself "obsessed with the building bug" (Gereuth Castle) and commissioned his master builder Joseph Greising with the planning. The new construction dragged on until around 1730; Greising's plans were completed by Balthasar Neumann. One reason for the elaborate planning of this rural residence was certainly the fear of a looming devaluation of the Franconian Gulden, which had reached a high value at that time. Therefore, people wanted to safely invest their wealth in real estate.

The structure of the castle building is kept simple and consists of rusticated corner pilasters, profiled window frames, and a string course between the floors. A planned richer structure was already reduced in 1718 for cost reasons. Each wing of the main building is accessible through its own portal; at the ends of the side wings, additional round-arched entrances provide access to the utility and cellar rooms. The segmental arch gable of the main portal is adorned with the aforementioned marriage coat of arms Fuchs – Würtzburg (marriage in 1726).

The two-story main building is flanked by four-story, projecting corner pavilions. Like the gate pavilions, these building components have slated mansard roofs. The rest of the building is topped by tile-covered hip roofs with dormer windows.

Inside, the large ballroom in the middle of the north wing is particularly noteworthy. The 28-meter-long room is decorated with foliage and strapwork stucco (1735). The walls are adorned with large painted fabric panels depicting ancient mythological and historical scenes, which were probably not originally intended for this hall.

The grand main staircase in the central building goes back to a design by Balthasar Neumann. The staircase was built between 1732 and 1735 under Johann Philipp Dietrich Ernst Freiherr Fuchs von Bimbach und Dornheim. The execution was carried out by the Ebern master mason Johann Georg Dantzer, who had already completed the shell of the castle. A wage of 389 Reichstalers was agreed upon.

Neumann simultaneously designed the entire sequence of rooms in the central building (vestibule, staircase, antechamber, and ballroom). The Würzburg master builder was able to draw on plans by Joseph Greising, who died in 1721, but created a two-flight, counter-running ashlar staircase that was integrated into the vestibule and the antechamber of the ballroom.

The flights of the staircase are accompanied by balustrades with Tuscan balusters and profiled handrails, interrupted by pedestals. With its twelve Tuscan round columns, the vestibule is more reminiscent of the crypt of a medieval church than a stately reception room.

The mummified hand of a woman is kept in the castle. Possibly, the object formerly served as a symbol of sovereign authority in court proceedings. Since the 16th century, the Fuchs family possessed the right of high jurisdiction (blood justice). The bailiff usually acted as judge here, who might also have displayed the severed hand as a deterrent. However, at the time of the Baroque castle new construction, the hands of convicted thieves were no longer chopped off.