Schloss Neckarhausen

Schloss Neckarhausen stands in the centre of Neckarhausen village, part of Edingen-Neckarhausen in the Rhein-Neckar district. The building was designed in the classical style and now belongs to the local council. It houses the council offices, a public library, a community museum, adult education classes and a music school. The former dining hall has become the council chamber. The park beside the house covers about three hectares. The house began as a post house run by the Thurn und Taxis family from about 1614. In 1746 Johann Georg von Susmann built a baroque manor to show his rank as vice-chancellor. After damage in 1784, Freiherr Franz Albert von Oberndorff restored the building and later enlarged it. Between 1824 and 1825 architect Jacob Friedrich Dyckerhoff added a second storey and gave the front a classical look. Graf Alfred von Oberndorff bought the nearby castle of Graf Leon von Luxburg in 1839 and joined its lands to the estate. Cannon balls from the 1849 Baden revolution are still built into the walls. The park was laid out from 1783 by Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell. It once had a French flower garden, a kitchen garden and an English landscape garden by the river. An ice cellar kept blocks of ice from the frozen Neckar cool through summer. The old orangery became a chapel in the early 20th century and was turned into an events room in 2008. Terraces link the main building to its side wings, and the last big change in 1910–11 added storeys to the corner pavilions.