Humpisschloss Brochenzell

The Humpisschloss stands in the village of Brochenzell, part of Meckenbeuren in the Bodenseekreis of Baden-Württemberg. It replaced a medieval castle built in 1277 called Brobhentel, which passed through the hands of the counts of Heiligenberg, Werdenberg, Hewen and Montfort over the centuries. The Humpis family bought the site in 1447 and built a small Renaissance palace there in the mid-16th century. In 1624 the castle was remodelled with an octagonal turret and a well. By the 18th century the monastery at Weingarten owned the estate and converted the building into an administrative office for Württemberg in 1810. The building’s later history shows how its purpose changed. After Württemberg moved the local administration to Ettenkirch in 1823, the castle lost its official role and stood empty for decades. Today it houses a restaurant on the ground floor and a museum upstairs dedicated to the Humpis trading company. The museum displays documents and artefacts from the Great Ravensburger Trading Company, which once operated across southern Germany. Visitors walk through rooms that still show traces of their former use as an Amtshaus. The octagonal turret and the old well in the courtyard remain from the 17th-century remodelling. The restaurant occupies the vaulted cellars, while the upper floor galleries display maps, ledgers and portraits of merchants. Outside, the building sits among orchards and farmyards typical of the Linzgau region. The quiet lanes around Brochenzell lead to gentle hills that give views across Lake Constance on clear days.