Schloss Dätzingen

Schloss Dätzingen stands in the middle of the Dätzingen district of Grafenau, a village in the Böblingen district of Baden-Württemberg. The four-winged classical building has an inner courtyard and belongs to the municipality. It houses the local history museum, a gallery, an auction house and an antiquarian bookshop. The castle’s history began in the 13th century when the Knights Hospitaller took possession of the village. The first stone castle was built in 1607 and enlarged in 1733 into its present shape. In 1810 King Frederick I gave the estate to Carl Ludwig von Dillen, who commissioned the Stuttgart architect Nikolaus Friedrich von Thouret to redesign the façade. The community bought the building in 1961 and restored it between 2009 and 2011. Inside, the early classical Maltese Hall from 1780 shows battle scenes and views of Hospitaller commanderies. A highlight is the 1812 panoramic wallpaper Les Chasses de Compiègne, depicting a three-week royal hunt attended by more than four thousand people. Four complete sets survive, and seven restored strips now line the antechamber to the hall.