Kirchhausen Castle

The Teutonic Order Castle in Kirchhausen, a district of Heilbronn in northern Baden-Württemberg, is a former moated castle of the Teutonic Order, built in the Renaissance style between 1572 and 1576.

The construction of the building dates back to the beginning of the term of Grand Master Heinrich von Bobenhausen in 1572, who at the same time also had Stocksberg Castle built in Stockheim, which also belonged to the Horneck Commandery. The execution is largely attributed to the Weinsberg master builder Thomas Knoll, who died in 1573, but whose stonemason's mark can still be found in the keystone of the archway in Kirchhausen.

The castle is a two-story, two-wing building, whose wings meet at right angles. This building form is rarely found in the sphere of influence of the Teutonic Order. The representative gables of the buildings are decorated in the Renaissance style with volutes and horizontal string courses. At the corners of the complex stand four round towers with slate-covered conical roofs. The building was once surrounded by a moat, which is now dry. A drawbridge on the northeast side served as access. The complex is almost square, with the castle building having only two wings, and two sides of the complex thus consisting only of enclosing walls, apart from the corner towers and house gable sides. The main building has an ornate portal in the inner courtyard with a volute cornice decorated with figures and coats of arms and the dating 1749. The side wing has a colonnade in the inner courtyard.

The castle received a new bell tower in October 1986 and now serves as a community center and as a venue for local events. Of the outbuildings, the neighboring tithe barn has been preserved.