Wässerndorf Castle

Wässerndorf Castle was built around 1168. In 1250, the Lords of Seinsheim rebuilt the castle. In 1502, ownership transferred to the Lords of Schwarzenberg. In 1555, Count Friedrich von Schwarzenberg converted the castle into a representative moated castle. In 1910, ownership transferred to the von Plönitz family.

When an American officer was killed in front of the castle in April 1945, a soldier, who was a friend of the fallen, had the people driven out. They had insisted they had not fired a shot, but the Americans, driven by revenge, set the former castle on fire on April 5th. The fire raged for two weeks. Two farmers who tried to extinguish the fire out of fear for their nearby farmsteads were shot by the Americans, according to eyewitnesses. All possessions of the castle lords burned. And as if this wasn't tragic enough - many of the surrounding communities had brought works of art here for supposed safety. Among them was the Würzburg State Archive, which had outsourced much here. Everything fell victim to the flames. Woe to the vanquished...

After 1945

The Barons von Pölnitz began clearing the rubble, but lacked the financial means to rebuild the castle. Therefore, they gifted the castle to the Bavarian state. In 1982, the ruin was sold to a private individual. He wanted to develop it into a leisure hotel, but quickly abandoned the unfinanceable plan and gave the castle ruin to a garden and landscape architect.