Haunsheim Castle

Haunsheim Castle is a three and four-story wing complex in the Neo-Gothic style. It is located in Haunsheim, five kilometers northwest of Lauingen in the district of Dillingen an der Donau, high above the Zwerchbach valley. The castle is surrounded by an almost rectangular English-style landscape garden and is owned by the baronial family von Hauch. The castle and garden are only partially accessible to the public.

In 1265, the Lords of Haunsheim began constructing a fortress. From 1601 to 1604, Reichspfennigmeister Zacharias Geizkofler von Gailenbach und Haunsheim, originally from Sterzing in Tyrol and married to the Augsburg patrician daughter Maria Freiin von Rehlingen, had a four-winged castle with several outbuildings erected on the remains of the medieval castle. The builder had to raise 16,864 guilders:

The new building was executed by experienced craftsmen. The construction management was led by Balthasar Reißner, a master builder of the Teutonic Order; the craftsmen from the surrounding towns were trained in the construction of Höchstädt Castle or were designated as municipal craftsmen. For the castle chapel, Geizkofler commissioned an altarpiece by the imperial court painter Joseph Heintz the Elder (now lost), and in the stone entrance hall, the new castle building boasted a true masterpiece, a monumental fireplace made of framed stucco, which the Augsburg sculptor Christoph Murmann created in 1605 after Heintz's design in opulent late Renaissance forms.

In 1667, the imperial knightly lordship of Haunsheim passed to the Barons von Racknitz. John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, had established his headquarters at Haunsheim Castle in 1704.

In 1806, Haunsheim lost its imperial immediacy and became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Barons von Süßkind acquired the property in 1823. Since a fire broke out in the southern castle wing in the same year, it was demolished. A few years later, the western wing was demolished, and with it probably also the castle chapel. Consequently, only the northern and eastern wings of the once four-winged complex remain. The buildings that remained after the severe fire were remodeled by master builder Bucher from Ulm in the Neo-Gothic style.

Amalie Freiin von Süßkind married Hermann Freiherr vom Holtz in 1839. Thus, in 1849, Haunsheim came to the baronial family vom Holtz, who had the castle rebuilt in the Neo-Gothic style. During the reconstruction, the riding arena and observatory, which had already been built by Geizkofler, were demolished. Just 15 years later, ownership transferred to Franz Carl Hauch, whose family was elevated to the baronial rank in 1876. The castle is still owned by the von Hauch family, who began renovating the entire castle complex with outbuildings and castle walls in 1980, a renovation that is still ongoing today (September 2001).

Of the four towers of the ring wall that once surrounded the castle, one round tower is still preserved:

This is probably the tower that was built by Esaias Holl, the brother of the famous Elias Holl, with two stories and loopholes. The preserved tower is single-storied, with a Neo-Gothic machicolation crown and battlements, as well as tracery windows. Above the door, the coat of arms relief of the current owner family and the year 1864 are displayed. On the courtyard side, a stone relief with the alliance coat of arms Geizkofler/Rehlingen MDCII adorns the tower, next to an iron pitch torch... Both under the garden hall and under the high castle wing, vaulted cellars, partly with columns from Romanesque times, are preserved.

At the western castle portal is the alliance coat of arms of the Barons von Hauch and the Barons von Gemmingen, below it the year of the acquisition of the building by the von Hauchs.

Today, some architectural treasures of the castle are accessible to the public upon request, for example, the orangery with its glass/cast iron construction, the vaulted cellar, the knight's hall, and the ballroom. Due to their romantic ambiance, they are often rented for anniversaries and other festivities. Furthermore, exhibitions, concert, and song evenings take place. The "Freundeskreis Schloss Haunsheim e. V." (Friends of Haunsheim Castle Association), founded in 1999, sees its main task as researching the history of the castle and its owners, as well as its architectural history.