Ebersberg Castle

Ebersberg Castle (also Ebersberg Fortress) is the educational and meeting center of the German Scout Association Sankt Georg (DPSG) in the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart. Ebersberg Castle is located in the municipality of Auenwald in the Rems-Murr district, east of the districts of Ebersberg and Lippoldsweiler, on a mountain spur.

The remains of the Staufer castle Ebersberg lie above the Auenwald districts of Ebersberg and Lippoldsweiler. Construction of the castle began at the beginning of the 12th century, and it was first mentioned in 1226. After the extinction of the noble family of the Lords of Ebersberg, into whose possession the castle had passed around 1300, the castle frequently changed owners. In 1551, the two-winged Ebersberg Palace was added, the remains of which can be seen in the current building. Schöntal Monastery (Jagst) became the new owner of the castle estate in 1698. In 1714, a fire destroyed almost the entire castle complex. In its current, baroque form, the castle was built around 1720 by the Cistercian monastery of Schöntal after this devastating fire. The Chapel of St. Michael was established in 1724. In 1786, after the monks moved away, Schöntal Monastery sold the castle to Duke Carl Eugen of Württemberg. A condition for the sale was that the Duke had to recognize the elevation to a Catholic parish, the undisturbed practice of faith by the subjects, and the maintenance of the church in the castle and the priest. Through § 31 of the Peace of Osnabrück of 1648, the Duke of Württemberg was legally compelled to this behavior by imperial law. This also explains why Ebersberg is the only place in the Protestant area with a Catholic character.