Menzingen Castle

Menzingen Water Castle is a Renaissance-era water castle in Menzingen, a district of Kraichtal in the Karlsruhe district in northwestern Baden-Württemberg. The complex, which already existed in the Middle Ages, was renovated in the 16th century by the Lords of Mentzingen and destroyed in the Second World War.

In 1359, two castles were mentioned in Menzingen, which are presumably the predecessors of the water castle and the nearby Schwanenburg. According to this assumption, the water castle dates back to the former lowland castle. The early building history and the former appearance of predecessor buildings are not known and can only be deduced from structural features of the ruin. Owners from the High Middle Ages were the Lords of Mentzingen. During the Peasants' War, the original lowland castle was destroyed by rebellious peasants.

Under Peter von Mentzingen (1498–1565), a new building was constructed from 1529 to 1539 as a three-story, three-winged complex in the Renaissance style. Building elements and wall sections of the old castle complex are still located in the southern and southwestern areas of the complex.

The Lords of Mentzingen moved their main residence to Gondelsheim in the 17th century. In the early 18th century, under the brothers Maximilian and Benjamin von Mentzingen, further construction took place on the building, and in 1707 it received the magnificent coat of arms stone above the main portal. It shows in the center the coat of arms of the Barons of Mentzingen (raven in shield, swan as crest), on the left the coat of arms of Maximilian's wife Margaretha Elisabeth Schaffelitzki von Muckadell, on the right the coat of arms of Benjamin's wife Sophia Charlotte Klenke von Renckhausen. From 1723 to 1790, Menzingen Water Castle was uninhabited. Afterwards, the building was extended, the wooden drawbridge was replaced by a solid stone bridge, and the castle was re-inhabited.

In 1913, the historian Hans Rott wrote that the water castle in Menzingen had "preserved its characteristic layout best and purest of all the water castles in the Kraichgau (...)". During the Second World War, a clock and coin collection from the Kurpfälzisches Museum in Heidelberg was relocated to the water castle. However, on April 2, 1945, in the last weeks of the war, the castle was destroyed in a fighter-bomber attack. Only parts of the foundations protruded from rubble piles up to four meters high. Since the stone bridge had also partially collapsed, access to the ruin, located on the northern edge of Menzingen, was not possible. It remained untouched for several decades, apart from excavations for the buried coin collection in 1947, during which it became overgrown with trees and shrubs. The adjacent farmyard of the castle, meanwhile, continued to be managed. Among the preserved buildings, a large historic stable building is particularly noteworthy.

In 1991, the stone bridge was first repaired and access to the ruin was created for further work. With the support of the owner, Dominicus Freiherr von Mentzingen, an initiative of the Heimat- und Museumsverein Kraichtal was then founded, which, through years of voluntary work clearing rubble and forestry work, opened up the ruin. Later, with the support of the State Office for Monument Preservation and the Monument Foundation Baden-Württemberg, as well as the owner, more extensive safeguarding measures took place. The masonry was consolidated and the northeast tower, which had also been undermined by floods and was therefore extremely prone to collapse, was stabilized. The first phase of renovation was completed in spring 2002, and the complex was accessible to the public for the first time at the Open Monument Day 2002. Further renovation measures are to be carried out on the ruin, which is only accessible as part of group tours.