To be privately owned
CastleZuzuhausen
Agnestal Castle
Agnestal Castle, also known as Seehälde Castle or Venningen Castle, is a Baroque castle in the municipality of Zuzenhausen in the Rhein-Neckar district. The castle is home to the training center and business office of the Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The castle is located on the western edge of Zuzenhausen.
The castle in Zuzenhausen dates back to one of originally several manor houses in the area. Southeast above the town lies the ruin of Zuzenhausen Castle as the oldest manor house in the area. In the town center was Zuzenhausen Castle, which the Lords of Venningen held as a fief along with the castle and town, but which had already fallen into disrepair in the early 18th century. At the site of Agnestal Castle, there was originally a "miserable farmstead" as part of the Hundheim fief. In 1716, the Hundheim property passed to the Palatine General Hermann von Freudenberg, who began the construction of a representative court complex. After Freudenberg's death in 1738, the fief returned to the Hundsheim family for about 30 years. From 1769, it was owned by Carl Philipp von Venningen and his wife Anna Maria von Hutten, who completed the castle by 1780. The name Agnestal comes from the Agnes Chapel, which disappeared in the 19th century and is also attributed to the Venningen and Hutten families. The name Seehälde probably developed from the fish ponds once located nearby.
The Lords of Venningen only inhabited the castle temporarily and mostly had it operated as an agricultural estate by administrators, which led to the loss of the garden and park facilities. In 1968, agriculture on the site was abandoned. Afterwards, a restaurant was briefly located on the upper floor, before it was divided into apartments and rented for residential purposes, while a discotheque opened in the basement. In 1986, the municipality of Zuzenhausen acquired the property and had the roof renewed in 1994. A comprehensive renovation was not possible for the municipality due to cost reasons.
In 2007, a buyer was found who promised a comprehensive renovation of the building for subsequent use as an event and conference venue.
Use since 2008+
Since April 2008, extensive renovation and expansion work has taken place to transform the castle into the training and business office center of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, a Bundesliga football club based in the neighboring town of Hoffenheim. The 12 to 15 million euro renovation was financed by SAP founder and patron of TSG Hoffenheim, Dietmar Hopp. The main use of the complex takes place in a new building directly adjacent to the old substance and in a converted historic farm building, so that the actual castle building today primarily serves representative purposes.
Complex+
The castle is a three-story, single-wing building, covered by a massive hip roof. Two towers of the same eave height but with their own roofs are attached to the sides of the castle building. The facade is structured by cornices and pilaster strips made of sandstone. In the middle of the building, a two-axis central risalit protrudes only slightly. The portal made of sandstone and the coat of arms cartouche above it with the alliance coat of arms of Venningen and Hutten mark the central axis of the building. The castle and the farm buildings standing at right angles to it on both sides form a courtyard of honor, in the middle of which there is a fountain.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 49.2925, 8.8171