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
