Tann Castle

Tann Castle is a castle complex in the Renaissance and Baroque styles in the town of Tann in the Hessian district of Fulda. It consists of three wings, the Red, the Blue, and the Yellow Castle, which are arranged around an approximately square inner courtyard. The castle is the ancestral home of the von der Tann family and remains in their private possession to this day.

The current castle complex dates back to a lowland castle built by ministeriales in the 12th century. It developed from the 16th century onwards, when the three family branches began to expand and rebuild the Ganerbenburg into a castle. This resulted in three castle wings, the "Red", "Blue" and "Yellow Castle", which are grouped almost completely around an approximately square castle courtyard. Only in the south was there an undeveloped area between the Red and Yellow Castles, which is now closed by a low garage building. To the west of the Yellow Castle is the castle park, which extends into the Ulster floodplain. To the west and south, the park is still surrounded by remnants of the medieval city wall.

The three lines of the family, the red, blue, and yellow family branches, were then named after the colors of the castles.

Red Castle

The Red Castle is the wing on the town side, a three-story building with red-framed windows and red-painted half-timbering. The castle was built in the Renaissance style until 1558, extended around 1591, and largely rebuilt in the Baroque style in 1680. At the southeast corner stands a polygonal tower, whose two upper floors are executed as half-timbered constructions. The segmental arch gate in the middle of the castle wing was only installed during the Baroque period. The gate to the inner courtyard of the castle complex is located at the northern end of the Red Castle, where the Blue Castle building adjoins. The depressed archway is made of red sandstone with flat rustication and has a rectangular outer shape. Above the gate is a coat of arms with the inscription "HEINRICH VON VND ZV DER TANN" above the coat of arms. Below the coat of arms, the year 1689 is documented. On the courtyard side is a solidly built, round stair tower that rises one story above the house. Its ground floor has a late Gothic portal, which bears the coat of arms of the von Tann family on the left and the coat of arms of the Schenken zu Schweinsberg on the right in its lintel. Above the lintel is a large alliance coat of arms, framed by fluted columns and crowned with an ornamented semicircular attachment. The banner above the left coat of arms reads EBERHART VON VND ZV DER THAN and above the right coat of arms reads ANNA GEBORNE SCHENCKIN ZV SCHWEINSBVRGK. Between them, the year 1558 is documented, which is the year of completion of the Red Castle.

Blue Castle

The four-story Blue Castle, whose windows are framed in blue, adjoins the Red Castle and forms the northeastern corner building of the complex. It was built in its current form between 1680 and 1716. The portal in the inner courtyard has a strongly protruding segmental arch gable in which there is a weathered coat of arms with an alliance coat of arms.

The Blue Castle is characterized by the polygonal, four-story tower on the street side of the castle, at the northeastern corner of the castle complex. It dates from the Renaissance period and is executed as a half-timbered construction on the top floor. During a renovation in the Baroque style, especially the lower floors built of sandstone were preserved. Here, on the polygon segment facing the passage to the inner courtyard, many heraldic representations and inscriptions are attached on the second and third floors. The eight coats of arms on each side of the polygon segment represent the genealogy of Christoph von Tann (* 1514; † 1575) and his wife Anna von Ebersberg gen. Weyers. On the left side, from top to bottom, are the coats of arms of the following families: THAN, MANSBACH, STEIN, TRVBENBACH (Trümbach), GORCZ (Görtz), BREN (Brenden), BRON (Brunn zu Münnerstadt) and SCHENCK (Schenk zu Schweinsberg). On the right side follow the coats of arms WEYARS, MERLAW, WEYERS, LIDERBACH, KETTEN, STEINROCK (Steinau gen. Steinrück), VÖLCKERSHAVS and ROLCZHAVSEN.

The inscription below the window on the 3rd floor refers to the above-mentioned couple: "FILII ET FILIAE CHRISTOPHOPIA THAN ET ANNAE KVNIEGVNDIS CONIVGIS SVAE NATAE EX FAMILIA WEYERS" and lists the names of their children: "AMELIA, SIBILLA, EYTEL MELCHIOR, KVNIGVNDIS, CRISTIANA, GEORGIVS FRIDERICVS"

The inscription below the window on the 2nd floor refers to the parents of the above-mentioned Christoph. Melchior von der Tann (* before 1451; † 1524) and his wife Margaretha von Mansbach: "FILII ET FILIAE MELCHIORIS VON DER THAN ET MARGARETHAE CONIVGIS SVAE NATAE EX FAMILIA MANSBACH" with a total of 17 children (Christoph is mentioned last here): 1 MARTINVS, 2 ELISABETHA, 3 EBERHARDVS, 4 KATHARINA, 5 CONRADVS, 6 ANNA, 7 GEORGIVS, 8 FRIDERICVS, 9 ALEXANDER, 10 ELISABETHA, 11 CONRADVS, 12 WENDELINVS, 13 CAROLVS, 14 DOROTHEA, 15 VRSVLA, 16 GEORGIVS, 17 CHRISTOPHORVS"

Below the inscription is another inscription: "PS 128 ECCE SIC BENEDICETVR HOMO QVI TIMET DOMINVM". In the lintel above this window is a building inscription "IN NOMINE TVO SALVATOR IESV CHRISTOPHEL VON DER THAN ZVNN KETTEN FIERI FECIT 1574".

On the polygon segment, to the right of these inscriptions, there is an unlabelled and undated coat of arms of the von Ketten family below the window on the third floor.

This so-called noble program on the tower is unique in Hesse in this extensive form.

Yellow Castle

The largest and youngest part of the complex is the solidly built, four-story three-wing Yellow Castle with a shallow hip roof in the west. The main portal in the inner courtyard is in a strongly protruding risalit in the middle of the west wing. This risalit is repeated on the other side of the building facing the castle park. The Yellow Castle was built between 1699 and 1714 according to plans by Johann Mützel.