Seelach Castle

Schloss Seelach is a villa above Lichtental from the 1860s. Its exposed location offers views over Baden-Baden and the Rhine plain all the way to the Vosges mountains. After falling almost completely into disrepair in the second half of the 20th century, the villa was completely dismantled and faithfully rebuilt between 2008 and 2012.

Purchase and Construction Phase

Countess Chreptowitsch, née Nesselrode, acquired the estate in 1862 and expanded it by purchasing neighboring properties. Her husband was at that time Court Marshal in Poland. The Chreptowitschs had their permanent residence in Warsaw. Baden-Baden was their summer residence.

A French architect took over the planning of the villa. Its style resembles the old feudal castles frequently found in France. The gatehouse at the entrance to the estate is also built in this style. Other buildings on the estate, including a guesthouse, a stable building with servants' quarters, a coach house, and an iron greenhouse, are of older construction dates. The Baden-Baden master builder Karl Müller was responsible for the construction. Before he could begin the actual work, however, he first had to deal with the architect's inadequate planning. The chimneys were only planned up to the first floor - where the smoke was supposed to escape was not clear. Furthermore, there were problems with the statics. The ground floor walls were designed too thin and would not have supported the upper floor walls. At the end of 1863, the construction was finally approved and could be completed in early summer 1866.

Life at Schloss Seelach

Count and Countess Chreptowitsch settled well in Baden-Baden. At Schloss Seelach, they received many prominent guests. Members of the Russian colony of Baden-Baden and the Western-oriented Russian high nobility came to visit, including in 1871 the later Russian Tsar Nicholas II. The Grand Ducal couple of Baden with their children, princes of every rank, and the imperial couple Augusta and Wilhelm I were also guests at Schloss Seelach. During the visit of the Emperor and Empress in 1880, Emperor Wilhelm is said to have raved about the magnificent view, to which Count Chreptowitsch is said to have replied, alluding to the Franco-Prussian War and the occupation of Alsace: "Your Majesty has spoiled the view for me. Before, I saw France and Germany, now I only see Germany."

After the Death of the Chreptowitschs

Countess Chreptowitsch had already died in 1875. The Count died in 1891. After that, there were numerous owners of Schloss Seelach. In the 1950s, the villa began to decay. In the 1990s, a publisher from Gaggenau planned to have the building dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt, but he ran out of financial resources.

Reconstruction 2008 to 2012

This plan was only implemented when Villa Seelach once again came into Russian ownership. State-of-the-art methods were used for the exact historical reconstruction. The villa was completely dismantled and rebuilt from scratch. Existing elements of the facade were reused as much as possible, and missing stones were newly manufactured based on old photographic material. At the same time, however, the current DIN standards had to be met during the new construction, especially the Energy Saving Ordinance (EnEV) for new buildings. The outer walls of the main building therefore consist of the sandstone facade and a parallel brick masonry. The thermal insulation was installed between these two walls. The park and the outbuildings were also modernized in a manner appropriate for historical monuments.