Rathaus

Schloss Schwaben stands in Markt Schwaben, a village in Bavaria’s Ebersberg district. Once a medieval fortress, it now forms part of the local town hall. The surviving south wing is a two-storey stone building with a steep slate roof and pointed gables. A modern extension houses the council offices, while the old moat curves around the south and west sides. Archaeologists have found traces of the 29-metre-high keep and its replacement fountain in the courtyard. The castle’s turbulent past began in 1283 when Duke Ludwig the Severe built a border stronghold. It was destroyed three times in the 14th and 15th centuries during Bavarian dynastic wars. After the Thirty Years War Swedish troops stormed it in 1632. In 1650 Elector Maximilian ordered a grand four-wing palace, completed by his widow in 1659. The chapel was where Clemens August of Bavaria was ordained priest in 1725. By 1812 the complex was so dilapidated that parts were pulled down and sold for bricks. Visitors enter through the neogothic south wing, now the town library. The remaining walls show where the inner curtain wall once stood 7.5 metres high. Outside, the old moat still marks the line of the outer defences. Inside the library, plain white walls contrast with the modern council chamber. Beyond the building, the village green occupies the former outer ward. A low brick bridge over the moat recalls the original drawbridge.