Günderrode Castle (Höchst)

Günderrode Castle is a baroque castle in the Höchst an der Nidder district of the Hessian municipality of Altenstadt. It is a cultural monument under monument protection in the sense of § 2 Paragraph 1 of the Hessian Monument Protection Act.

The castle complex consists of a two-story manor house with a hipped mansard roof and two adjoining building wings to the north and south. These also have mansard roofs and two stories, but are lower than the main house. The upper floor of the north wing was built in half-timbered construction. Its cellar - like that of the manor house - has a vault.

The small entrance hall with a paneled ceiling is dominated by a two-flight wooden staircase leading to the upper floor of the manor house. In the southern side wing there is a large hall with an open fireplace.

The castle is surrounded by a plot of land measuring approximately 6000 m³, which is occupied by a castle park in the style of an English landscape garden. The entire area is located in the old village center of Höchst between the Protestant church and the community center "Villa Höchst" and extends from Mittelstraße to Parkstraße.

South of the village, a hermitage was connected to the castle by a planted axis.

Günderrode Castle was built by the Lords of Carben on the site of the former moated castle Hoesten, first mentioned in a document in 1245. This first castle construction was followed by a second, built by the Lords of Büches. However, since they acted as robber knights, King Ruprecht had the castle razed to the ground in 1405 by the Landvogt of Wetterau, Herrmann von Rodenstein.

About two decades later, in 1424, a "house with courtyard and rampart" was built on the site. The building was demolished by the Lords of Carben at the beginning of the 18th century and replaced in 1718 by the current baroque castle building.

Only 38 years later, the family sold the property to Baron Johann Maximilian von Günderrode, the grandfather of Karoline von Günderrode, known as a poet. When he died in 1784, his son Philipp Maximilian succeeded him as lord of the castle. In his second marriage, he married the educated Wilhelmina von Stein-Ostheim in 1791, who invited artists and writers to the castle. Bearers of such prominent names as Achim von Arnim, Clemens von Brentano, Freiherr vom Stein or Friedrich Carl von Savigny were among the guests in Höchst.

Although the von Günderrode family no longer lived there since 1900 and the property fell into disrepair due to inheritance disputes, they remained owners until the 1930s. The castle library, comprising 50,000 books with writings from the 16th to 18th centuries, was transferred to the Hessian State Library as early as 1922.

After a comprehensive and faithful reconstruction from 1967 to 1971, the castle was used as a hotel, but has been vacant for several years and is currently for sale. Viewings or guided tours are not possible.