Schloss Guggenberg

Schloss Guggenberg stands above the Wertach valley in the Augsburg Western Forests nature park. It belongs to Schwabmünchen in Bavarian Swabia and is owned by the Neubronner family. The three-winged building began as a late-medieval hunting lodge and was enlarged in the 17th and 18th centuries. Further alterations came in 1835, when a steep roof and a terrace were added. At the same time the surrounding park was laid out in the style of the 19th century. The castle first appears in records in 1441 as a hunting lodge of the Bishop of Augsburg. In 1448 the bishop enfeoffed it to the Langenmantel family of Augsburg. Andreas Langenmantel built the present manor house in 1470. After changing hands several times, the estate passed in 1536 to the Augustinian canons of St George in Augsburg, who used it as a refuge during the Reformation. Later owners included the Bally family, who ran a cotton mill here in the 18th century. Visitors cannot enter the castle or its park today. From the valley road a path climbs to the crest where the three wings of the manor house meet. The steep roof and the terrace built at the end of the 19th century are clearly visible. Below, the Wertach valley stretches away through the Augsburg Western Forests nature park.