Gauangelloch Castle

The Gauangelloch moated castle, also known as Bettendorf Castle, is the ruin of a moated castle at Schlossgarten 1 in Gauangelloch, a district of Leimen in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg.

The moated castle on the Angelbach in Gauangelloch was presumably built by Hans I von Angelach-Braubach. It was first mentioned in 1369 and came into the possession of the Barons of Bettendorf in two halves in 1450 and 1476.

The castle was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War and rebuilt in 1665 by Johann Philipp and Helena von Bettendorf. It fell into disrepair in the 18th century and was largely demolished in 1823, with a simple residential building being preserved and restored. Franz Ludwig von Bettendorf made the castle's cellar available to build a castle chapel on it in 1824, after the destruction of the castle, using its building blocks. This chapel served as a place of worship until the end of the 19th century and was subsequently converted into a barn. The pointed-arch entrance door, in which three Bettendorf coats of arms were walled in, still originated from the old Gothic castle building. One of these coats of arms showed two intertwined Bettendorf rings and the following inscription:

IOHANN PHILIPP C. P. RAT V. ST. V. HELENA BEIDE GEB VON BETTENDORF BAVTEN DIS SCHLOSS WIDER MIT GOTTES HILF AVF AN. 1665.

Chronicler Carl Stocker interpreted the abbreviations as "Churpfälzischer Rat und Stäbler" (Palatine Electorate Councillor and Staff Bearer).