Gräfenhausen Castle

Gräfenhausen Castle is a former castle located in the Gräfenhausen district of Weiterstadt. Today it houses a retirement and nursing home, the Ohlystift.

After 1211, Waro von Hagen, a younger brother of Kuno von Hagen-Münzenberg, presumably built a castle or moated castle. He was in possession of the imperial forest of Dreieich. The castle was probably an imperial fief. For over 400 years, Gräfenhausen remained in the possession of the Lords of Heusenstamm. The moated castle was located in the center of the village, of which no remains are preserved.

Gräfenhausen Castle, today called Ohlystift, was built in 1555. In a Gräfenhausen land register from 1725, it was described as follows: The castle has a 2-story residential building with a watchtower and well, nine pigsties, a plant garden, a shooting garden, a wooden stable, and a large shed with a hayloft.

In the second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, conversions and new constructions transformed it into a Renaissance castle. Hans Heinrich von Heussenstamm had the forecourt, four barns, and several stables built, and strengthened the castle's defenses with three bulwarks.

Change of Ownership

In 1658, Gräfenhausen Castle was sold by the Lords of Heusenstamm to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt after long negotiations. Two years later, the sale of the castle was approved by Emperor Leopold I. Landgrave Ludwig IX. gifted the castle with all its appurtenances to the Princely Invalid Institute in 1775. Hessian invalids, who came with wives and children, moved into the castle. By 1818, the number of children had increased enormously, so Grand Duke Ludwig I decided to end the institution's work. In the same year, an attempt was made to auction the castle. Despite tempting offers published in newspapers, a sale did not materialize. For the next two years, the castle was used as a lazaret and then left vacant for over ten years. Finally, the castle could only be sold in 1832 for 5917 guilders to the Mainz calico manufacturer Nikolaus Schwarz. He established a manufactured goods factory in the castle. However, the buyer did not receive everything from the castle. Already in 1819, the stables had been auctioned off for demolition. On the same day as Nikolaus Schwarz, the Gräfenhausen citizen Wilhelm Knauf bought the Kättchensgarten for 792 guilders.

The manufactured goods factory did not last long. After that, the castle changed hands many times. From 1846, the castle was in the hands of Johannes Röder. Ten years later, Count Friedrich von Otting-Fünfstetten bought it. He sold it in 1864 to Johann Schüler's widow from Frankfurt. Another six years later, the Englishman Joseph James Bridge acquired it. In 1873, the castle went to Georg Lapper from Darmstadt and a year later to the dairy owner Heinrich Saul from Kassel. Finally, the city of Darmstadt bought it in 1887 for 17500 Marks.