Schenkenstein Castle

Schenkenstein Castle is an old ministerial seat, consisting of a stately proportioned main building, a rubble stone building with corner quoins, at its core a medieval motte-and-bailey castle, around 1550 the old motte-and-bailey castle was built over with the new castle and expanded to its current size. A stepped gable from the Renaissance period (around 1550) is still preserved today. Above the archway, the coat of arms of the Schenken von Schenkenstein is embedded. Today, the castle is partly a multi-tenant house and is located within the largely filled-in moat system.

In 1468, Hans von Seckendorff pledged his share of Röckingen as a fief to Margrave Albrecht von Ansbach and then sold it as a margravial fief to Hans von Schenkenstein. The last representative of this family, together with his stepbrother Georg von Gundelsheim, built the castle that still stands today. In 1572, the last Schenkenstein murdered his wife Cäcilie von Rechenberg in his castle.

As punishment, his feudal estates were confiscated by Margrave Georg Friedrich, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The estates reverted to Georg Wilhelm von Gundelsheim. He sold them in 1584 to the Ansbach Margraves, who regularly stayed in Röckingen. During this time, the "Fürstenstand" (prince's stand) was erected in the Röckingen Laurentius Church. In 1793, the castle came into private hands. Later, it passed into the possession of brewery owner Gutmann. After the First World War, the rooms were used as an office for the lime works. Ownership then changed hands several times.