Schloss Eglingen

Schloss Eglingen stands on the south-west edge of Dischingen-Eglingen in the Heidenheim district. The two-storey building now called a Schloss was once the chancellery of a much larger fortified complex. That complex had two curtain walls, a lined moat, three solid gates and two drawbridges. The Grafeneck family built the grand Schloss in 1596 under Freiherr Ludwig III. In 1664 they became counts, but sold the estate in 1723 to Fürst Anselm Franz von Thurn und Taxis. The water castle served as the administration centre for Thurn und Taxis lands until 1810, when the main building was demolished. What remains are a stable, the old farm building, a gatehouse, a round tower and the former brewery. The brewery, designed by Joseph Dossenberger, has tall round-arched windows like a church and large cross-vaulted interiors. The Renaissance chancellery is about eighteen metres long, topped with a saddle roof and flanked by round towers. A lower round tower with a helmet roof and machicolations marks the middle of the west gable. The east gable has two round towers, and the gable triangle displays the Grafeneck coat of arms from 1708. Part of the curtain wall still encloses the complex.