Deufringen Castle

Deufringen Castle, also known as Gültlingen Castle or Gültling'sches Schloss, is located in the Deufringen district of the municipality of Aidlingen in the Böblingen district in Baden-Württemberg. The castle is owned by the municipality and is used as a community center.

A predecessor building is already presumed to have existed at the castle's site in the 14th century. The current castle building was constructed in 1592 under the Schorndorf bailiff Jakob von Gültlingen by Heinrich Schickhardt. The noble family of Gültlingen held the fief from 1402 to 1699. Until 1699, the castle was the family's ancestral seat. In that year, Johann Conrad von Gültlingen ceded the fief to the House of Württemberg. The latter passed it on to Privy Councillor von Schütz, who returned it in 1726. Already in 1746, it was converted into a parsonage. The building was used by the Protestant community until 1976 and was owned by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The municipality bought the castle in 1977 to house the town hall there. Since the existing listed town hall could not be demolished, it was decided to establish a community center. The vaulted cellar is used for jazz concerts.

Castle Ghost

The castle ghost dates back to a murder. Jakob von Gültlingen stabbed his friend Konrad von Degenfeld within the castle walls on the night of October 9th to 10th, 1600. Jakob mistook Konrad, who was allegedly sleepwalking wrapped in a bedsheet, for a ghost. Jakob was executed as early as October 15th, 1600, by order of Duke Friedrich I.