Former moated castle (Ehemalige Wasserburg, Altwiesloch)

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Landkreis Rhein-Neckar-Kreis

In the heart of Altwiesloch, a district of Wiesloch, the courtyard known as the Schlosshof, reached from Dielheimer Straße, marks the site of a moated castle that has now disappeared. Built around 1150 on a mound, either artificial or rocky, it formed a quadrilateral of about 80 m by 45 m. A ditch, fed by a spring to the north-east, surrounded it. A bridge and a gate tower opened onto the courtyard to the north. The residential tower stood to the west and the chapel to the south, while barns and stables occupied the east. A possession of the lords of Weinsberg, the castle was ceded to the Electoral Palatinate between 1269 and 1277. It then passed to the Sickingens, the Neippergs, the Sturmfeders and then the Nippenburgs. From 1571 it was divided among heirs, and a second manor house, the present Bürgerhaus, was built around 1575. Dilapidated from the 18th century, it lost its residential tower, which collapsed in 1888. The gate tower was pulled down in 1898 and a fire swept away the last remains in 1926. A few sections of wall survive in neighbouring gardens; a house stands on the foundations of the former tower.