Wertingen Castle

Wertingen Castle is a double castle complex with two or three-story gable-roofed buildings, surrounded by a deep, walled moat on both sides. It is located on the northwestern edge of the old town of Wertingen in the district of Dillingen an der Donau.

In 1348, the Augsburg patrician Johann Langenmantel zum Sparren acquired the lordship of Wertingen as a Bavarian fief. The new lord had the old castle built in 1354 as a two-story gable-roofed building. Various attacks repeatedly damaged the building, most recently in 1462. In 1467, the Langenmantels sold the lordship of Wertingen to Mang I. Marschalk von Pappenheim. Around 1500, a fundamental change was made to the castle. Around this time, two round towers were added, as well as the substructure of the freestanding southern clock tower.

In 1654, Adam Wolfgang Christoph von Pappenheim had a three-story extension with two corner towers, the so-called New Castle, built to the east of the castle. When the male line of the Pappenheims died out around 1700, the lordship, which had been granted as a fief, reverted to the Electorate of Bavaria. For a short time, until 1714, it was owned by the Princes Lobkowitz. Subsequently, the lordship reverted to the feudal lords. Following this, a separate Pfleggericht (administrative and judicial district) was established in the castle, from which the Wertingen District Court eventually emerged between 1803 and 1806. Furthermore, the Rentamt (revenue office) was housed in the castle. When the separation of justice and administration took place in 1862, the District Court and the District Office were accommodated as purely judicial authorities in the double castle.

Today, the renovated castle is owned by the city of Wertingen. It is the seat of the Wertingen administrative community and houses the local history museum.