Schloss Schillingsfürst

Schloss Schillingsfürst stands on a westward spur above the village of Schillingsfürst in Mittelfranken. The three-winged Baroque palace rises above two former neck ditches that once defended the site. The family of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst has owned the hilltop since 1262, though the present building dates mainly from the 18th century. The palace is worth visiting for its layered history and the names attached to it. Louis Remy de la Fosse designed the main block in the 1700s, while the Hofgarten behind the house was later remodelled in the English landscape style. Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, who lived here in the 19th century, later became both Bavarian prime minister and German chancellor. Visitors find a three-storey palace with an inner courtyard framed by arcades. A five-arched stone bridge crosses the inner ditch, and a single-arched bridge spans the outer ditch. East of the house the landscaped park contains a Phönix monument, a family mausoleum in Gothic style, and a walled cemetery. To the north lie the symmetrical stables and former bakery, their sandstone dressings still legible.