Schloss Hohenheim

For the district inside the city of Stuttgart, see Hohenheim.

Hohenheim Castle
Schloss Hohenheim
Schloss Hohenheim Location in Baden-Württemberg
General information
Type	Schloss (Castle)
Architectural style	Rococo
Classification	Schloss
Location	Hohenheim
Address	Schloß Hohenheim 1, 70599 Stuttgart, S-Plieningen
Town or city	Stuttgart
Country	Germany
Coordinates
Named for	1772
Client	University of Hohenheim
Design and construction
Architect	Reinhard Heinrich Ferdinand Fischer
Website
www.stuttgart.de/en/item/show/335707/1

Schloss Hohenheim is a castle located in the Hohenheim district of Stuttgart. The castle was constructed by order of Duke Carl Eugen and designed by Reinhard Heinrich Ferdinand Fischer from 1772 to 1793 for his future wife, Franziska von Hohenheim. Today, the castle grounds are home to the University of Hohenheim and is surrounded by Hohenheim Gardens.

History

The first mentioning of Hohenheim (albeit under the name "Hohenach") occurred in 1100 by Egilof of Hohenach when Hirsau Abbey donated some land to the castle. Over the centuries, the castle repeatedly changed owners until falling into possession of Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg in 1768.

Duke Charles initially constructed a small moated castle, but later turned it into a summer home in 1776. Later that same year, the Duke announced that he was planning a "Full English Dörfle," which wound up becoming a full sized Rococo manor. The gardens around the castle were also planned at this time. They featured pillars depicting the Roman gods Jupiter (god) and a playhouse now used as a museum by the University of Hohenheim. The gardens continued to be maintained and many exotic plants were added. The Duke commissioned an extensive residential palace to be built on the grounds of Hohenheim in 1782 until construction halted in 1793 due to the Duke's death at Hohenheim.

Only about 20 years later did the castle regain a greater significance when King Wilhelm I of Württemberg and his wife Catherine founded the Agricultural Educational Testing and Model Institution, which was housed in a separate building on the castle and the Paracelsus School was housed in the east wing much later.

During World War II, a wing of the castle was destroyed, but was rebuilt (at least the exterior of the wing). In the 1970s, the castle was restored and modernized and the rococo plaster removed. The 1990s saw the return of this plaster to lock once again.

Current use

Today, the University of Hohenheim uses large portions of the castle grounds. The Horticulture and Agriculture Departments of the University have been found on the castle grounds since 1818. The Kavaliersbau German: Squire's lodge, the University of Hohenheim established a canteen in 1918 that was converted into a restaurant in 1958.

Trivia

• The castle grounds were once home to the manor house Paracelsus prior to the castle's construction.
• The old Neogothic church on the island was firebombed during 1944 and is closed to the public.
• Friedrich Schiller visited and described the park of Schloss Hohenheim like so: "The nature that we find in the English system is no longer that which we had expected. It is inspired by the spirit and exalted by Art and Nature"

Gallery

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  Schloss Hohenheim

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  Map of Gardens

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  Plan of the Corps of Guides, circa 1772

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  Trompe-l'œil in the interior

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  Old Botanical Garden

Bibliography

Documents

Pdf Hohenheim University for historical trail, circa October 11, 2013

External Links

• "Schloss Hohenheim" on the Stuttgart city website.
• (German) University of Hohenheim historical trail pdf.
• (German) Search for "Schloss Hohenheim" on German Digital Library.
• (German) Search for "Schloss Hohenheim" in Portal SPK, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
• Photo gallery of the castle.