Roseck Castle

Roseck Castle is a castle complex in the Schönbuch above the Ammer Valley near Unterjesingen.

The former Roseck Castle was probably originally built by the Counts Palatine of Tübingen during the Staufer period (1138–1254). It was first mentioned in 1287. Gottfried I († 1316), Count of Böblingen and Count Palatine of Tübingen, one of the Swabian counts whose resistance King Rudolf broke in 1287, had to hand over this fortress (castrum Rosseccke) to the king at that time. In the mid-14th century, it came into the possession of the Lords of Ow, and finally Burkhart von Hönstein, who sold the castle to Hinz von Hailfingen in 1408. He sold it on October 28, 1410, along with the entire village of Jesingen (today Unterjesingen), to Bebenhausen Monastery.

Bebenhausen established a monastic administration, lower jurisdiction, and administrative seat for the villages of the Ammer Valley in the complex. Upon the dissolution of the monastery in 1535/36, the property passed to the Dukes of Württemberg; the monastic administration came under the Württemberg monastic office of Bebenhausen in Lustnau and was subsequently transferred to the Oberamt Herrenberg. In 1807, Roseck became a princely domain. In 1824, the state domain passed to the economic councilor Karl Friedrich Sick from Stuttgart. In 1826, Rudolf Bernus, the son of a millionaire from Frankfurt, took over the estate. In 1850, his adopted son Leonhard Benz inherited the Roseck estate, but due to illness, he sold it again in 1861 to Konstantin Riedlinger from Rottenburg. In 1891, it then passed to bank director Alfred Kaula from Stuttgart.

The farm was already managed under Riedlinger by administrator Guoth, whose son Heinrich Guoth then bought the estate in 1898. The agricultural graduate Guoth mainly operated dairy and fruit farming and was appointed as a member of the state parliament for the German Party in Stuttgart. After his early death, his widow sold the castle estate in 1917 to the soap manufacturer Franz Öchsle from Plochingen.

In 1947, Franz Öchsle donated Roseck Castle to the Franciscan Sisters of Schramberg-Heiligenbronn (Rottweil district), who moved into the castle. They managed the associated estate and built a convalescent home in 1958. In 1989, they leased the castle to a Franciscan life center, which was operated by the "Little Servants of Jesus." After only 14 months, the Little Servants moved out again because a child abuse case was pending against the leader. The castle then became accommodation for asylum seekers.

On August 9, 1991, the historic castle was rendered uninhabitable by a fire. An addict had started the fire while completely intoxicated. The Franciscan Sisters of Heiligenbronn had the roof re-covered, but the castle was no longer renovated. It remained as an empty shell.

In 1993, the castle became private property again; Oskar Eggenweiler from Sulz acquired the property, enthroned high above the Ammer Valley, for 5.3 million Deutschmarks (2.7 million Euros). The castle itself has remained almost empty since then (as of January 2007); only one apartment is rented out. According to Eggenweiler's original plans, a clinic for patients with craniocerebral diseases was to be built in the old building. Nothing came of this. In the annex, which was built by the sisters in 1959, the Schloss Roseck Pflegegesellschaft operates a home with 21 beds and ten apartments for assisted living. The Pflegegesellschaft, which is managed by Eggenweiler's wife Susanne, cares for patients who are admitted from hospitals after strokes, craniocerebral traumas, and other ailments. Patients with MS, severe neurological diseases, dementia, or Alzheimer's are also admitted. The lease agreement between Eggenweiler and the Pflegegesellschaft for the nursing home runs until the end of 2019.

In 2007, the property with all its lands was acquired by Markus Eggenweiler. Schloss Roseck GmbH continues to lease the properties and plans extensive modernizations and expansions.

On March 16, 2012, it was announced that the operating license for the Schloss Roseck care center had been revoked by the Tübingen district administration due to various violations.