Schloss Hochdorf

Schloss Hochdorf stands on a spur above the streams Zipfelbach and Strombach in the Remseck district of Stuttgart. The present building replaced a 13th-century castle built by local nobles who served the Counts of Calw-Löwenstein. After changing hands several times in the 14th and 15th centuries, the site was bought in 1513 by Jakob von Bernhausen, who began a single-storey Renaissance house on the foundations. The Holdermann family added a timber-framed upper storey before Matthäus Enzlin acquired the property in 1603. After a spell under Württemberg’s control, the Nothaft family returned in 1609 and commissioned Heinrich Schickhardt to remodel the house between 1609 and 1612. When the Nothaft line died out, the von Gemmingen family inherited the estate in 1681 and later sold it back to Württemberg in 1779. Today parts of the castle serve as a branch of the Remseck town hall, a citizens’ hall and a community library. The former brewery, started in 1760, closed in 1796. Private owners occupy other sections, yet visitors can still see the stone walls and timbered upper floor added by each generation. The quiet courtyard and surrounding vineyards offer a view of the Neckar valley.