Oberndorf Castle

Oberndorf Castle (also known as Fugger Castle) is a two-story, two-wing complex with two three-story round towers. It is located in the municipality of Oberndorf am Lech in the district of Donau-Ries and is surrounded by a park of approximately 22,000 m².

In 1533, Raymund Fugger von der Lilie acquired the lordship of Oberndorf. There, his brother Anton Fugger von der Lilie had an imposing four-winged moated castle built between 1535 and 1546. In 1601, it became the residential castle of Anton Fugger the Younger. The latter founded the Fugger-Oberndorf line (which died out as early as 1669). During the Thirty Years' War, the castle, where the Swedes were quartered, largely burned down in 1632. Around 1819, Sebastian Eligius Fugger-Glött, who died in Oberndorf Castle in 1826, had the remaining structures expanded into the two-wing complex seen today.

The lady of the castle, Marie Countess von Fugger-Glött, was a highly respected beekeeper. She maintained 25 bee colonies and participated in the apicultural exhibition in Augsburg in 1886.

In the uppermost floor of the eastern round tower, there is a small castle chapel with a gold-leaf decorated altar and the Fugger coat of arms. An imposing horse chestnut avenue (unfortunately affected by the horse chestnut leaf miner), the so-called Church Avenue, leads to the castle.

The former Fugger Castle, once characterized by the Renaissance style, was completely renovated in the mid-1980s and 1990s. The castle and its park are not accessible to the public. The new lord of the castle opens the castle portal to specific visitor groups, such as the elementary school children of Oberndorf.

The Tillyweg path runs north of the castle park. From this side, one can still catch some "stolen" glimpses of the castle and its park, hidden behind trees and bushes, especially as newly planted arborvitae increasingly shield (will shield) the historic complex from the outside world.