Zeilitzheim Castle

Zeilitzheim Castle is a baroque country castle in Kolitzheim (Main Franconia), which was built between 1679 and 1683. The builder was Philipp Gaston Wolf, Count of Wolfsthal.

Philipp Gaston Wolf von Wolfsthal was an imperial colonel in the Turkish Wars, district judge in Bamberg, captain of the imperial knighthood of the Steigerwald canton and all cantons in Franconia, and a councilor for Mainz, Würzburg, and Bamberg. His possessions included Thannstein, Pillmersried Castle in Rötz, Schmachtenberg Castle, and Schenkenau, whose county also included Neuses am Sand Castle. In 1706, he was elevated to the rank of count. When his only son died, he adopted his friend, Count Schönborn-Wiesentheid, as his son.

Damian Hugo Philipp von Schönborn-Buchheim became the new resident. Giovanni Francesco Marchini decorated the ballroom around 1735. The Counts of Schönborn remained the owners of the castle until the end of the 1950s, but then sold it.

The castle has been owned by the von Halem family since 1979, who have since restored it and made it accessible to the public through cultural events. This work was recognized in 2004 by the German National Committee for Monument Protection with the German Prize for Monument Protection (Silver Hemisphere). The owners finance the restoration and maintenance of the castle by renting out historic ballrooms and a "bed & breakfast".