Hohenstein Castle

Hohenstein Castle is a Renaissance-style castle located in Hohenstein in the Ludwigsburg district.

A castle at the site of the current castle was already mentioned in 1250. The castle owners were the Lords of Howenstein. After their line died out in 1443, Württemberg took over the village and castle and granted it as a male fief to the Lords of Sachsenheim. They, in turn, sold half of the castle each to the Lords of Talheim and the Lords of Lierheim. The Lords of Talheim later ceded their half to the Lords of Winnenden. By around 1550, the castle is said to have been in ruins. In 1555, the ruin reverted to Württemberg, which distributed it to the Lords of Plieningen and the chief bailiff of Brackenheim. In 1593, the Plieningen family had the castle demolished and built a new castle in its place. A hundred years later, the castle was burned down by the troops of Ezéchiel de Mélac during the War of the Palatine Succession. However, it was rebuilt between 1696 and 1698 by Maria Magdalena von Gaisberg, née Schertlin von Burtenbach, this time in the Renaissance style, as can be seen from the hip roof and the Baroque stucco. The destroyed east wing was omitted. Around 1740, the Lords of Schütz-Pflummern bought Hohenstein, but the village and castle had to be sold again due to financial difficulties. However, a few years later, the Schütz-Pflummern family was able to reacquire the castle.

In 1942, the castle was sold, this time to the NS-Frauenschaft (National Socialist Women's League). After the war, Otto Mecheels founded the Hohenstein Institutes in 1946, which have been headquartered in Hohenstein Castle to this day.