Propstei Wechterswinkel

Following the dissolution of the Cistercian convent in the 16th century, the extensive monastic estates continued to be administered from a provostry. A chief provost, often chosen from the Würzburg cathedral chapter, oversaw operations, supported by a local sub-provost. A baroque predecessor building dating from around 1700 is known to have stood on the site of the current structure. The present building was completed in 1793 under Chief Provost Carl Theodor von Dalberg. However, its use as an administrative building lasted only about ten years, until secularization. In 1813/14, the provostry served as a military hospital for the ducal Würzburg military, where approximately 100 victims of the Napoleonic Wars, mostly succumbing to typhus, were buried. During the 19th century, the property was primarily used for agriculture. In 1914, the linguist Ernst Lewy acquired the building and wrote parts of his academic works there. After the Jewish Lewy family emigrated in 1933, a daughter operated the provostry as a “Recreational Home Schloss Wechterswinkel.” In 1939, the property was “aryanized” by the municipality and used as a “RAD-Heim für die weibliche Jugend” (Reich Labor Service Home for Female Youth) until 1945. After the war, it was briefly occupied by the US Army and subsequently served as a refugee shelter. Since its return to the Lewy family in 1950, the provostry has been sold multiple times and is now in private ownership. Following a ten-year historically sensitive renovation, the building reopened in July 2021 as a guesthouse with four holiday apartments and five double rooms.

The Propstei Wechterswinkel is situated in the Wechterswinkel district of the municipality of Bastheim, in the Rhön-Grabfeld district, Bavaria, Germany. Its geographical elevation is approximately 265 meters above sea level.

The carefully renovated building now houses a guesthouse with four holiday apartments and five double rooms.

• Wechterswinkel Monastery (sacred building, approx. 66 m away)
• Unsleben Castle (castle, approx. 2955 m away)
• Lebenhan Castle (castle, approx. 3948 m away)
• St. Mary's Assumption Parish Church (sacred building, approx. 7060 m away)