Count Eberstein Palace (Graf-Eberstein-Schloss)

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Landkreis Karlsruhe

Standing on a height west of the Kraichbach valley, the Graf-Eberstein-Schloss overlooks the small town of Gochsheim, now a district of Kraichtal. It succeeded a medieval fortress around which a settlement had grown up, described as an oppidum as early as 1278. From 1520, the counts of Eberstein transformed the site into a Renaissance residence, completed around 1580 and made up of a small front palace and a larger rear palace. Having passed to Württemberg after the extinction of the male line in 1660, the building suffered at the hands of French troops in 1689 and then in the town fire of 1739. The rear palace was demolished in 1828-1829, while the front palace, which became municipal property, served as a school before being restored in 1905. The stair tower, the main portal topped by the Württemberg-Eberstein alliance coat of arms, and a 16th-century stucco ceiling can still be seen. Today it houses the Kraichtal town museum, with works by Karl Hubbuch and a large collection of irons, as well as the Kraichgau library.