Schloss Ehingen

The Stadtschloss Ehingen once stood in the north-east of the old town, high on the city wall above the Groggental valley and the Schmiech river. Built by the counts of Berg-Schelklingen, it served as their town residence before passing to successive Pfandherren and governors. After the counts died out in 1346, each new Pfandherr used the castle as his official home.

The Pfandherr Konrad von Bemelberg the Younger ordered repairs in 1568–69, and a list in the Tirol State Archive names fifteen rooms and outbuildings. These included the Herrenstube, the kitchen, the Kaiserstube, the women’s chamber and even a small bath-house. The castle clearly had considerable size and fine fittings for its time.

The Thirty Years’ War left the building unused and neglected. In 1692 the monastery of Zwiefalten bought the site for 4,500 gulden and, by 1698, demolished the castle to make way for the Benedictine college that still occupies the hill today.