Location: Schwieberdingen Map
Constructed: 1160
Nippenburg Castle is located in Schwieberdingen, Baden-Württemberg region in Germany. The citadel of Nippenburg Castle was constructed no later than 1160. Nippenburg Castle protected many of the local peasants during times of unrest and warfare. Unfortunately improved fire power made military fortifications obsolete. Citadel was abandoned as a strategic defensive point. Knights left the stronghold and it was left to elements as well as local residents who quarried the walls and towers for stones. There have been some evidence that some of the buildings were briefly inhabited over centuries, but overall structure of Nippenburg Castle was slowly falling in disrepair. Nippenburg Castle was partially reconstructed as it appeared during Medieval Times.
The Nippenburg was probably built for military
purposes in the 12th century by a local noble family. It is
considered the oldest castle ruin in the Stuttgart area. The castle
was first mentioned in the Codex Hirsaugiensis, which testifies to a
mill built by a Berwart "below the Nippenburg" for 1160. In 1283 a
prominent rendezvous took place on the Nippenburg: guests of
Friedrich von Nippenburg (dictus Urrus de Nippenburc) were the Lower
Swabian provincial bailiff, Count Albrecht II of Hohenberg, Count
Eberhard I of Württemberg, and Count Conrad III. von Vaihingen and
the provost Dietrich von Beutelsbach as well as numerous clergymen,
noblemen and ministerials mainly from the area between Sindelfingen
and Pforzheim, all of whom testified to a comparison of the
inheritance of the Lords of Nippenburg and the Lords of Enzberg
around the Kapfenhart Castle near Weissach.
The original
castle of the Lords of Nippenburg has been expanded several times
over the years. The kennel in front of the curtain wall dates from
the first half of the 14th century. The outer bailey with the
massive barn still preserved today was built towards the end of the
15th century.
Due to the newly developed explosion
projectiles and the associated replacement of catapults with mortars
and cannons, the castle complexes could no longer offer the
residents adequate protection. Since people only lived cold, wet and
uncomfortable in the castles, they were abandoned more and more.
Around 1600, therefore, the construction of the manor house Schloss
Nippenburg above the castle complex, which was expanded and changed
in the 18th and 19th centuries.
When Wilhelm, the last knight
of Nippenburg, built the manor house, he had stones broken out of
the castle and used them as building material for his new manor.
After the castle itself was inhabited until around 1700, it was left
to decay in the following centuries. At what point in time the
castle was completely abandoned as a place of residence and
protection cannot be precisely determined. A stove plate from 1770
found during restoration work indicates that the castle was
partially inhabited at a later date. From a correspondence between
the bailiffs of Grüningen and Leonberg, who argued about
well-preserved boards and beams of the Nippenburg in 1647 and 1648,
it emerges that parts of the buildings within the castle were
already abandoned at that time and that the Served the leftover
remains of the castle until it was finally just a ruin. Over time,
ivy and bushes covered the remains of the wall. Only the storerooms
of the castle were used by the residents of the manor for a long
time.
In the 1960s and 1970s the plan matured to renovate the
ruined walls. In order to preserve the castle ruins, extensive
restoration measures were carried out between 1979 and 1984 on the
walls, which were in danger of collapsing. The main initiator was
Helmut Theurer, to whom a plaque on the keep is dedicated. The costs
for this were borne by the Baden-Württemberg State Monuments Office,
the community of Schwieberdingen, the current owner, Count Leutrum,
and the district of Ludwigsburg. Today the Nippenburg castle ruins
are a popular destination.
The castle ruins are located southwest of Schwieberdingen on a hill on the edge of what is now the Nippenburg castle estate. The hilltop castle, located on a mountain spur surrounded by the Glems, was protected on three sides by swamps and the steep slope. This was once bare in the immediate vicinity of the castle, because no tree or bush was supposed to offer the attackers protection or cover. The castle threatened danger almost only from the east side, where the mountain spur continues into the open area. To protect against this, the lords of the castle built the mighty shield wall, some of which is still visible today. The sixteen meter high and three meter thick wall was also preceded by a ditch running southeast of the castle to ward off enemies. A stone arched bridge, which ended three meters in front of the castle gate, led over this wide moat, which was once around six to eight meters deep. The drawbridge between the bridge and the castle gate - presumably replaced by another stone bridge arch in the 15th century - could be pulled up in the event of danger. Due to this defense system, the Nippenburg gave its residents security and refuge for many centuries. So it is not recorded that the Nippenburg was ever captured, destroyed or burned down.
The facility has two bailey. The first, southern
outer bailey with a large castle barn and the wide former courtyard
area shows the remains of two castle gates in the west and east. The
remains of the eastern gate tower to the left and right of the path
still indicate that there was a well-fortified fortification on this
side with a roofed battlement that went up to the castle barn. The
castle guards stayed here as well.
In addition to the large
open meadow, in the southern outer bailey there is a farm building
that has largely been preserved in its original form, the Gothic
castle barn built in 1483. Below it is an exceptionally large
vaulted cellar, which was essential for storing food, especially
during long periods of siege. Under the barn roof there are three
grain floors built one above the other. The southern forecourt of
the castle has probably been filled with the excavated material from
the construction of the neck ditch. This created a high retaining
wall, which is enclosed in the south by two walls in front of it.
The western castle gate leads down to the Glemstal. The former
chain loops of the drawbridge can also be seen here. Following the
path through the second castle gate towards the valley, there is a
wall on the right that belongs to a former farmyard. On the inner
walls of the farmyard, the stables and the blacksmith's shop were
housed under a pent roof on one side and the servants' house with
wagons and saddlery on the other. A little further on one comes
across the recognizable remains of an earlier rampart and moat
system, which served as the castle's first defensive area to the
west. A steeply sloping footpath or bridle path leads to Glems,
which is around 50 meters lower.
In the western outer bailey,
opposite the large castle barn, you can only find the remains of a
cistern and a once high keep with the five-meter-deep dungeon cellar
underneath, which you cannot see.
Through the opening of the
inner castle gate, which no longer exists today, you can get into
the courtyard of the main castle. The rear of the mighty shield wall
rises here in the eastern part, to which a circular wall connects on
both sides, which in earlier times surrounded the entire courtyard.
Today the wall is mostly still waist-high, well secured and only
interrupted to the north. It is believed that parts of the wall on
the steep slope came off due to erosion. On the inside of the old
curtain wall there is an information board with a floor plan and
history of the Nippenburg.
A gate in the towering ring wall
in the southern part opens the way to the south-eastern Zwinger. Due
to the large number of loopholes, this represented another important
area of defense. In the southeast corner of the Zwinger stood the
watchtower, which was willfully destroyed in 1945 and popularly
known as Käppele. The lookout, which is still completely preserved
today, shows that the gatekeeper operated the drawbridge from here.
The spacious kitchen was located in the castle courtyard between
the keep and the still preserved castle cellar. The vaulted ceiling
of the castle cellar once formed the foundation for the only
fragmentary palace, which, apart from a few windows and restored
walls, has only a few details. The women's chamber, called the
bower, was protected by the shield wall and was adjoined by a small
chapel.
Since the castle more and more lost its original function from the end of the 16th century, a representative castle was built in its immediate vicinity, built in 1600 by Heinrich Schickhardt, rebuilt in 1728 and again in the 19th century. Today's three-storey plastered building with a classic structure, which can be considered a typical rural aristocratic residence, includes a farm yard with various buildings and a park. Since 1951, the castle has been inhabited again by the Leutrum von Ertingen family, the direct descendants of the Knights of Nippenburg.
In the rear area of the manor house, the
approximately two hectare large castle park is enclosed by old
walls. The park, which is more than 200 years old, has been
redesigned several times over the centuries. The oldest map from
1767 shows straight rows of fruit trees in the area of today's
park. It was only at the end of the 18th and 19th centuries that it
was redesigned to its present form in the style of an English
landscape garden. In contrast to a French baroque garden, an English
garden should be modeled on nature as much as possible; there are no
straight axes or strict geometric shapes. Along the paths paved with
fine pebbles in the palace park in the middle of the close-cropped
lawn you will find more than 30 different species, including rare
oaks and beeches, sequoias, trumpet, tulip and ginkgo trees, as well
as some sprinkled rose beds and flower borders. A botanical
specialty is a primeval sequoia (Metasequoia). This deciduous
conifer was only discovered in China in 1941 and was previously only
known from fossil finds.
Like the manor house itself, the
palace gardens are privately owned by the zu Ertingen family and are
not open to the public. For the day of the open monument on
September 10, 2006, which was under the motto lawn, roses and
borders - historical gardens and parks, the home and culture area
Schwieberdingen offered guided tours through the otherwise locked
garden.
The Nippenburg was
probably built as the ancestral seat of the lower nobility of the
Nippenburg family. It is not clear where its name comes from.
However, it is believed that it can be traced back to an Alemannic
local lord named Nippo, who may have founded a settlement in the
vicinity of the castle.
The family of the Lords of Nippenburg
can be documented for the first time in 1275, when a knight named
Fridericus de Nippenburc was listed as a witness in a certificate
sealed by Counts Rudolf von Tübingen-Herrenberg and Ulrich von
Tübingen-Asperg.
The Nippenburgs were initially connected as
vassals to the former Count of Asperg, a branch of the Count
Palatine of Tübingen, and then from 1308 to the Württemberg lords
and lords. However, individual members of the widely ramified family
line also appeared as Baden and Hohenlohe vassals in the course of
history. In the 14th century the Lords of Nippenburg already had
rights and property in many places, which expanded in the course of
the 15th century. Their lands lay in a spacious area that stretched
from the Korngäu and Schönbuch in the south to the Zabergäu in the
north and from the Pforzheimer area in the west to the Remstal in
the east. At times they also owned Kleiningersheim Castle, Ditzingen
Castle Stables, Altsachsenheim Castle and Bromberg Castle in
Kirbachtal. In 1488, the Knights of Nippenburg joined the Swabian
Federation at an imperial request, which arose from the merger of
the Knight Society Sankt Georgenschild and some imperial cities.
Since the federal government was directly subordinate to the empire,
they gained greater independence from their sovereign by joining. In
addition to expanding and consolidating their secular power, the
Lords of Nippenburg also endeavored to gain ecclesiastical power. In
1306 Fritz von Nippenburg was the first church lord of the
Georgskirche in Schwieberdingen to be known by name and thus had a
say in the award of church offices. As the local lords of
Schwieberdingen, the Nippenburgers also acted as builders. In 1489
work began on the nave of St. George's Church, and in 1495 the
construction of the choir. In addition, the construction of the
moated castle in 1508 and the castle barn in 1565 can be traced back
to the Lords of Nippenburg.
Philipp von Nippenburg, born in
1458, was the only one of his family to rise to the highest state
offices. In 1498 he was appointed to the Württemberg government. In
1501 he was already ducal court master of Württemberg. During the
time of the poor Konrad, he was one of the most important advisors
at the side of Duke Ulrich von Württemberg, who then enfeoffed him
in 1515 with the position of inheritance in the Duchy of
Württemberg. The coat of arms of the Nippenburg family, previously
an open eagle flight on a blue background, was expanded to include a
cup from then on. The year 1518 brought another rise for Phillip von
Nippenburg. He was appointed the Württemberg State Court Master and
headed government affairs together with the legally qualified
Chancellor Ambrosius Volland. During this time the people of
Nippenburg were at the height of their economic and political power.
At the beginning of the 17th century, a decline in
Nippenburg possessions, which had reached its greatest territorial
extent towards the end of the 15th century, can be observed. This is
mainly due to the fact that the lands were bequeathed to other
knight families after the Nippenburg side lines had died out and
died out. From then on, the possessions of the Lords of Nippenburg
concentrated mainly around Hemmingen, Schöckingen, Schwieberdingen
and Unterriexingen.
After the family of the Knights of
Nippenburg in Schwieberdingen died out in 1609 with the death of the
last heir, Wilhelm von Nippenburg, the castle and estate came to the
Stockheim family in 1611 through the marriage of Anna Benedikta von
Nippenburg and Baron Johann Heinrich von Stockheim. The male tribe
of Nippenburg outside Schwieberdingen died with the death of Ludwig
von Nippenburg in 1646. The name and coat of arms of the Nippenburg
family lived on as an epithet in the counts of Bissingen-Nippenburg,
since Johann Friedrich von Bissingen married Kunigunde von
Nippenburg in 1646 and took over the Nippenburg family property. The
former seat of the Counts of Bissingen and Nippenburg, the
Hohenschramberg Castle, is therefore sometimes also called
Nippenburg today. The female tribe of the von Nippenburg family
survived until the end of the 17th century. Ursula Margaretha
Truchsess von Höfingen, born von Nippenburg, died in 1696 as "the
last of her tribe and name", as it is written on her tombstone in
Böblingen.
Through Friederieke Julianne von Stockheim, the
granddaughter of Anna Benedikta von Nippenburg, who brought the
castle and estate in 1685 as a dowry to the marriage with Count
Ernst Ludwig Leutrum von Ertingen, the property became the family
property of the Counts Leutrum, who owned the castle, palace and
estate still belong today.
As with many
medieval castles, there are also some sagas and legends about the
Nippenburg.
In the swampy terrain of the Glemstal lowlands
below the Nippenburg, all warriors are said to have sunk into the
moor during a battle.
For a long time afterwards, a knight
who had an only daughter lived on the Nippenburg. The knight
Christoph von Hemmingen courted her. Once the bride did not return
home until late at night. In the dark she lost her way and got into
the moor. Nobody heard her cries for help and she sank into the
moor. When they looked for her the next day, only a handkerchief was
found. In order to forget his great pain and not to be constantly
reminded of the terrible misfortune, the bridegroom went to war with
the emperor. But even during the war, he could not forget his young
bride and her painful end. Nothing more was heard from him in his
homeland. After his military service, he is said to have entered a
monastery where he lived for many years and dedicated himself to
naturopathy. Having grown old, he was drawn back to the place of his
former great love, and when a monk built a hut there below the
Nippenburg and settled down there, nobody recognized the former
youth, because many decades had moved into the country and on the
Nippenburg and In Hemmingen there were only a few people left who
could remember the misfortune of that time. Soon the word got around
that an old monk lived below the Nippenburg and prayed day and
night. He collected grasses, herbs and roots and distributed them to
sick people who asked for cures for all kinds of diseases. They
brought him food and drink and worshiped him as a saint. They also
helped him build a little church. So the years went by, and when one
morning someone knocked on his door again, there was silence: the
old man was lying dead in his hut. When the men who had been
summoned laid him on a stretcher, a gold cross came out from under
his robe. It said on one side: "Knight Christoph von Hemmingen" and
on the other: "Love never stops". The place below the Nippenburg is
still called the Moorkirchle today.
The Nippenburg is also
associated with all kinds of ghost stories. It is said that a count
named Hans buried his fortune there and continued to look after it
after his death. In earlier times it was also reported that at the
Schwieberdingen quarry a rider without a head could often be seen,
whose horses were braided by ghosts in the tail and mane.
Furthermore, stories are told about the Käppele, the so-called old
watch tower of the Nippenburg. So the way to Schwieberdingen should
be avoided at night, because here the Käppelesgeist goes down from
the Nippenburg to Schwieberdingen at night.
The 18-hole golf course Schloss Nippenburg is in
the immediate vicinity of the Nippenburg manor house. The 90 hectare
site, which was once used for agriculture, was transformed into a
modern golf course in 1995. The top German golfer Bernhard Langer
was responsible for planning the 6,154-meter-long course at par 71.
In addition to the 18-hole main course, there is a practice facility
with a driving range, putting and chipping greens and three practice
bunkers.
The golf course Schloss Nippenburg became known
worldwide through the German Open, which was held here from 1995 to
1997. The Scottish Colin Montgomerie in 1995, the Welshman Ian
Woosnam in 1996 and the Spaniard Ignacio Garrido in 1997 entered the
winners list of the tournaments, each endowed with almost two
million marks.