Elmarshausen Castle

The origins of the current castle lie in a church village called “Egelmareshusen,” first documented in 1123. In the 13th century, the Lords of Helfenberg acquired the village, the court, and the church patronage. They gradually sold their possessions between 1309 and 1403 to the Lords of Gudenberg, who by 1370 already owned three-quarters of the locality. They had a water castle built on the Erpe, which was first documented in 1442. In 1515, Hermann von der Malsburg purchased the Elmarshausen estate. After the Gudenberg line died out in the male line in 1534, he received Elmarshausen as a fief. With financial support from Duke Ulrich of Württemberg, whom he helped regain his duchy in the Battle of Lauffen, he had the water castle expanded into a Weser Renaissance-style palace. His son Christoph completed the construction by 1563.