Schloss Espasingen

Schloss Espasingen stands in Espasingen, a village near Stockach in the Lake Constance region. It began as a small 16th-century castle built by the Lords of Bodman on low-lying marshland beside the Stockacher Aach. The site lies only a few metres above the water level of the Überlinger See, a northern arm of Lake Constance. The castle’s history is marked by destruction and rebuilding. Destroyed in the Thirty Years’ War, it was rebuilt in 1682–85 by Hans von Bodman and his wife. In 1839 it became a brewery with a public house, surviving a disastrous fire in 1892. The brewery closed in 1968, and later uses included a Malteser aid post until 2017. The present owner is converting the complex into modern apartments. The surviving wings show the original three-sided plan with curved gables. The east wing once housed a chapel and later a guest room called the Bräustüble. The west wing and central section remain empty. The whole site reflects centuries of change from noble seat to industrial brewery and now to residential use.