Schloss Kirchberg

Schloss Kirchberg stands on a rise above Lake Constance near Immenstaad, a complex of buildings surrounded by vineyards. The oldest part is a medieval chapel, rebuilt several times since the 13th century. The main residence, known as the Old Castle, dates from the mid-16th century and was later joined by a grander east wing in the 18th century. The site passed from local counts to the Cistercian abbey of Salem in 1288, which used it as a farm and retreat for its abbots. After secularisation in 1802 the estate went to the Margrave of Baden, who kept the vineyards in production. During the Second World War parts of the Dornier aircraft company worked here, and afterwards French forces held suspected war criminals such as Konstantin von Neurath. Visitors walk through a courtyard framed by the old chapel, the three-storey Old Castle with its altered facades, and the taller east wing added by Salem’s architect Johann Joachim Scholl. The former steward’s house and the simple service buildings still stand around the edge of the site. Beyond the walls the vineyards slope down to the lake, offering wide views over the water and the distant Alps.