Schloss Hirrlingen

Schloss Hirrlingen stands in the village of Hirrlingen in the Tübingen district of Baden-Württemberg. Built between 1557 and 1558 by Freiherr Georg VII. von Ow, it is one of the few rural Renaissance palaces in the region that has survived almost unchanged. The three-storey building follows a rectangular plan with a steep roof, and two round towers on the north side still show gun slits in their ground floors. A hexagonal stair turret marks the centre of the courtyard front, while a two-storey oriel on the south-east corner displays the builder’s coat of arms alongside that of a later owner. The surrounding moat has largely disappeared except for the pond on the village side.

The Ow family died out in 1709, and the palace passed to Reichsgraf Anton Ferdinand von Attems. In the 19th century the local council bought it, and today it houses the Hirrlingen town hall. The outbuildings that enclose the courtyard also date from the 16th century. A memorial slab in St Martin’s church still records the death of Georg von Ow in 1575, asking for a joyful resurrection.

Visitors enter a courtyard framed by the original Renaissance wings. The stair turret leads to the upper floors where municipal offices now occupy the former living quarters. The oriel’s carved escutcheons remain in place, and the pond on the village side reflects the palace’s south façade. The church a short walk away holds the builder’s epitaph, linking the site to its 16th-century origins.