History of Stettenfels Castle

Stettenfels Castle

The History of the Castle

Situated high over the town of Untergruppenbach, grand and mighty Stettenfels Castle is visible from afar. Anyone heading north on the autobahn from Stuttgart or east from Heilbronn toward the mountains of Löwenstein is unable to overlook this castle.

Built in the 11th century, this was probably a Frankish castle. In later years, possession alternated between the many counts of the surrounding villages.

From 1356, Stettenfels Castle and the lordship were in the hands of the knight Sir Burkhard von Sturmfeder. More private lordships followed until 1504 when Duke Ulrich von Württemberg seized castle and lordship Stettenfels, giving it to Konrad Thumb von Neuburg as a fiefdom in 1507.

In 1527, the heirs of Konrad Thumb sold the property to Philipp von Hirnheim, who conducted the reformation here in 1536. The nephew of Jacob the Rich, Count Anton Fugger, acquired Stettenfels Castle in 1551. In 1575, his son Hans remodeled the castle into a renaissance palace at considerable cost. This is the source of today’s double title of Stettenfels Castle Palace.

Stettenfels remained in the possession of the Fugger family until its sale to Duke Karl von Württemberg in 1747. In 1829, the town of Untergruppenbach purchased the property. Possession changed in the following years: the tanner Friedrich Korn from Calw in 1852, Anton Meyer, a businessman from Hamburg in 1858, the landowner Friedrich Bürkle in 1881 and, in 1888, the farmer Christian Hildt from Weinsberg.

In 1901, Colonel Dr. Walter Putsch from Cologne took over possession of the property and renovated in turn-of-the-century style. The castle became the residence of the Haldenwang family in 1918. In 1925, shoe manufacturer Siegfried Levi from Kornwestheim acquired the castle and property, founding a widely recognized stud farm. Because he was Jewish, the Nazi regime forced him to sell the property under duress and he fled to South Africa in 1934. Chief architect of the Reich, Albert Speer now wanted to establish a so-called order castle, or Ordensburg, for training Nazi elite, and had plans to transform Untergruppenbach into a showplace. Before any significant construction could get underway, the war broke out.

Ravaged by the chaos of war, Stettenfels came under American occupation in 1945. In 1946, the post-war Protestant social service institution (Evangelische Hilfswerk) leased the castle, setting up a recreation, guild and senior center.

In 1951, Stettenfels was returned to Siegfried Levi’s widow during the reparations process. In 1957, she sold the property to Dr. Friedrich Spieser-Hünenburg, who owned the castle for 37 years. The property was ultimately sold by his heirs to Roland Weimar, an architect from Flein. Since that time, Mr. Weimar has attended to crucial renovations, bringing Stettenfels Castle piece by piece toward a new future.

Further information

History of the Owners of Stettenfels Castle

1994

Roland Weimar

1987

Heirs of the Spieser family

1957

Dr. Friedrich Spieser Hünenburg

1951

Siegfried Levi regains ownership

1946

Aid organization of the Protestant Church

1945

American asset management

1939

NSDAP

1937

City of Heilbronn

1925

Siegfried Levi

1918

Elsa von Haldenwang (widow of the regimental commander)

1901

Dr. jur. Walther Putsch

1888

Christian Hildt

1881

Friedrich Bürkle

1858

Private citizen Anton Meyer

1852

Master tanner Friedrich Korn

1829

The municipality of Gruppenbach purchases the castle with all associated properties

1812

Upper office of Besigheim

1810

Upper office of Heilbronn

1751

The Duke of Württemberg integrates the Stettenfels dominion into the Beilstein office

1747

Anton Sigmund Fugger sells the Stettenfels dominion for 207,500 guilders to Duke Charles of Württemberg

1634

Fugger family

1632

Swedish confidential secretary Nicodemus von Ahausen

1551

Anton Fugger and his family

1546

Hans Walther von Hirnheim

1527

Hans Konrad Thumb von Neuburg sells the Stettenfels dominion for 14,000 guilders to Wolff Philipp von Hirnheim

1525

Hans Konrad Thumb von Neuburg

1507

Württemberg hereditary marshal Konrad Thumb von Neuburg

1478

Götz von Adelsheim, Zeysolf von Adelsheim

1462

Friedrich Sturmfeder sells the castle for 5,020 guilders to Raban von Helmstatt

1442

Pledged by Schwigger Sturmfeder to Württemberg

1356

Knight Burkhard Sturmfeder

1335

Engelhard von Hirschhorn acquired parts of Stettenfels Castle; Hans Wigmar, Haintz Wigmar and Peter Fuer, a respected patrician family, also owned parts of Stettenfels Castle

1277

Treaty between Engelhard the Elder and Konrad the Younger of Weinsberg and Ludwig II, Count Palatine of the Rhine, concerning the dominion of Gruppenbach

1100

Counts of Calw-Löwenstein likely owned the dominion of Gruppenbach