Murnau Castle

Murnau Castle is located in the market town of Murnau am Staffelsee in the Upper Bavarian district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Murnau Castle originated from a fortress; today it houses the Murnau Castle Museum. The castle is a listed building.

Murnau Castle was converted into a museum in 1991 and 1992, during which archaeological and building research surveys were also carried out. The publication of the research results earned Murnau Castle the reputation of being "Bavaria's best-researched castle". Several construction and renovation phases were identified for the former castle complex and the later castle.

Oldest Castle Complex

The felling date of a wooden beam could be dated to the winter of 1232/1233 based on ground finds, as well as with the help of the 14C method and dendrochronology. This consequently resulted in a dating to the first half of the 13th century for the existence of a first building in the research year 1992.

Ten years later, this date was moved forward by the discovery of various documents. Among other things, a document dated April 5, 1322, was discovered in the Bavarian Main State Archives in Munich, suggesting that at that time Otto von Eurasburg, as Vogt, already had his official residence in Murnau Castle. This was apparently a residential tower, which was surrounded by a curtain wall shortly thereafter.

To the east of it, a chapel was excavated, on the northern side of which several people had been buried without coffins and without grave goods. Investigations in 1992 already showed that the chapel and the remains date from the 11th/12th century.

The recent excavations of 2009/10 confirmed the early dating with a construction sequence for the entire complex, which "with finds and findings dates back to the 12th and possibly even the 11th century." The chronology of the early period is supported by ceramic finds, which were made with so-called "Romanic ledge rims" and "Gothic collar rims", produced on the "slowly rotating" or "foot-powered potter's wheel".

The formerly four-story residential tower is largely preserved today in the west wing of the castle. In plan, it is almost square with dimensions of approx. 13 x approx. 14 meters. The building was originally accessible on the third or fourth floor via a wooden staircase. As a special feature, sliding windows or shutters were proven to be original windows from 1233, which "are probably unique in Bavaria".

Renovations in the 16th Century

Only minor construction work was found for the period between 1233 and the first half of the 16th century. Extensive construction measures were initiated in 1539. This year, which was found carved into a stone slab in the south wing of the castle and is flanked by dendrochronological investigations, can be linked to the start of construction of the current large south wing of the castle and a small northern extension. The Baroque extensions of the 16th century still characterize the castle complex today.

From the second half of the 14th century until the secularization in 1803, the complex was used by Ettal Monastery as the official and residential seat of the administrator and as a court seat.

Conversion to a Schoolhouse

The structural decline of the castle began even before the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss and the secularization of 1803, during which, among other things, the Murnau district court was abolished and Murnau was assigned to the Weilheim district court. In January 1804, the Murnau magistrate bought the south wing of the castle at auction to convert it for school purposes with classrooms and a teacher's apartment. In the 1860s, the west wing was also made usable for school operations. From 1804 to 1980, the school of the municipality of Murnau existed here.

Conversion to a Museum

In 1989, the municipality of Murnau decided to convert the castle's long-vacant premises into a museum that would showcase the peculiarities of the Murnau landscape, its history, folklore, and art. The museum concept implemented in 1991 and 1992 is still valid today and is considered very successful. The Murnau Castle Museum, opened in 1993, was awarded the Bavarian Museum Prize in 1995 for its concept and its supplementary special exhibitions, and furthermore made the market town of Murnau known worldwide.