Museum
CastleTettnang
Gate Castle Tettnang
The Torschloss is a Renaissance building on the edge of the old town of Tettnang. The castle-like building ensemble was formerly part of the city fortifications, served temporarily as a residence for the Counts of Montfort, as a school, and today houses the municipal museum, the municipal gallery, and the city archive.
The buildings, consisting of the gate tower, residential castle, and castle chapel, originated from the city fortifications built from 1330 under Count Wilhelm II of Montfort. In the mid-16th century, they were sold to the family of the regional scribe Johannes Teuthold, who rebuilt the residential building and had the chapel added to the southwest corner in 1578. After the destruction of the old castle, the Counts of Montfort bought the castle back in 1629 and expanded the ensemble with the adjoining Bär house in Montfortstrasse. Thus expanded and modernized, the buildings served the counts as a residence until the completion of the Old Castle Tettnang in 1677.
At the end of the 18th century, the city became the owner of the buildings and used them, among other things, as a schoolhouse, and the chapel as a detention cell.
The coats of arms on the facade show the changing rulers:
- 1182–1780 Montfort
- 1780–1805 Austria
- 1805–1810 Bavaria
- 1810–1952 Württemberg
- since 1952 Baden-Württemberg
Architectural Description+
The oldest existing part is the city gate with the gate tower built in 1464, which is adorned with a coat of arms panel from 1569. The tower and all other buildings are crowned with stepped gables. The Holy Cross Chapel was added at the corner. The living rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors were richly painted and provided with stucco ceilings in the 18th century. High-quality wall paintings from the construction period have been preserved in the chapel. They could be uncovered during the last renovation in 2002. In the Renaissance style, they show ornamental decorative elements such as friezes and garlands, as well as trompe-l'œil architectural motifs of strapwork and cartouche ornaments.
Surroundings+
The market square is located in front of the group of buildings. Outside the gate, important roads from Ravensburg, Wangen, Lindau, and Friedrichshafen converge on Bärenplatz. In front of the gate tower stands a two-story Baroque building from 1780, which served as the residence of the last Count of Montfort, Count Anton IV. Today, it houses an inn with a microbrewery.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tettnang5.jpg
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 47.6719, 9.5887