Neuburg Castle (Bavaria)

Last updated
Neuburg Castle with river Danube Schloss Neuburg.jpg
Neuburg Castle with river Danube
Court Chapel Schlosskapelle Neuburg 01.jpg
Court Chapel
Courtyard with the wing completed in 1537 Neuburg an der Donau Schloss Innenhof Hoppe2005.jpg
Courtyard with the wing completed in 1537

The Neuburg Castle (German: Schloss Neuburg) is a palace in Neuburg an der Donau, Upper Bavaria.

History

The original castle was built in the early Middle Ages by the Agilolfings. This was acquired by the Wittelsbach dukes in 1247.

When Count Palatine Otto Henry began his rule in Palatinate-Neuburg in 1522, he found a medieval fortified castle in his residence city of Neuburg, which, unlike similar princely residences was still not adjusted for the demands of a modern court. So from 1527 he ordered to re-design the castle into a Renaissance palace and to expand the artistic quality and condition to one of the most important palaces of the first half of the 16th Century in Germany. From 1537 an additional west wing was added which also includes the chapel.

The chapel is the oldest newly built protestant church in the world, although construction of the shell began as a catholic court chapel in 1537, with a small apse, in which the altar with a crucification group, commissioned in 1540, is placed. In 1541 elector Otto Henry converted to the new Lutheran protestantism, and from 1542 the Salzburg church painter Hans Bocksberger der Ältere lavishly decorated the chapel with painted ceiling vaults and galleries in the latest antique-style Italian manner. The picture program not only thematized the decisive role of Christ as divine guarantor of grace, the central lutheran doctrine. It also claims a decisive role of the prince in the distribution of this grace within a God-given earthly order. The court chapel was consecrated on 25 April 1543 by the reformed theologian Andreas Osiander. It was thus the first newly built protestant church, an honor often attributed to the court chapel of Hartenfels Castle at Torgau which was built in 1443-44 and consecrated by Martin Luther on 5 October 1544.

Because of the financial difficulties and bankruptcy of Otto Henry in 1544, the construction of the west wing of the castle took a long time. Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, who succeeded his cousin Otto Henry in the Duchy of Palatinate-Neuburg, ordered in 1562 to decorate the west wing facing the courtyard with elaborate Sgraffito decorations. The Knights' Hall (the lower panel room in north building) was provided in 1575 by Hans Pihel with a coffered ceiling and wall panels from a rotating timber, both of which are original. The impressive east wing was rebuilt in 1665 by Philip William, Elector Palatine in the Baroque style and complemented with two round towers.

Today the castle houses a gallery of baroque paintings, the museum is under supervision of the Bavarian State Picture Collection.

See also

Coordinates: 48°44′13″N11°10′52″E / 48.737°N 11.181°E / 48.737; 11.181

Related Research Articles

Electoral Palatinate State of the Holy Roman Empire (1085–1803)

The Electoral Palatinate or the Palatinate (Pfalz), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate, was a country that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Counts palatine of the Rhine served as prince-electors (Kurfürsten) from "time immemorial," were noted as such in a papal letter of 1261, and were confirmed as electors by the Golden Bull of 1356.

House of Wittelsbach German noble family

The House of Wittelsbach is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden, Hungary, Bohemia, the Electorate of Cologne and other prince-bishoprics, and Greece. Their ancestral lands of the Palatinate and Bavaria were Prince-electorates, as well as the Archbishopric-Electorate of Cologne, and the family had three of its members elected emperors and kings of the Holy Roman Empire. They ruled over the Kingdom of Bavaria which was created in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918.

Heidelberg Town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Heidelberg is a university town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. In the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students.

Frederick V of the Palatinate Elector Palatine (1610–23), and King of Bohemia (1619–20), the Winter King

Frederick V was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both roles, and the brevity of his reign in Bohemia earned him the derisive sobriquet "the Winter King".

Torgau Town in Saxony, Germany

Torgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.

Heidelberg Castle Ruin in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Heidelberg Castle is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.

Neuburg an der Donau Town in Bavaria, Germany

Neuburg an der Donau, is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany.

Munich Residenz Building in Munich, Germany

The Residenz in central Munich is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors for its architecture, room decorations, and displays from the former royal collections.

Buda Castle Castle complex in Budapest, Hungary

Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest. It was first completed in 1265, but the massive Baroque palace today occupying most of the site was built between 1749 and 1769. The complex in the past was referred to as either the Royal Palace or the Royal Castle. The castle now houses the Hungarian National Gallery and The Budapest History Museum.

Frederick III, Elector Palatine

Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, branch Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine (Ottheinrich) in 1559. He was a devout convert to Calvinism, and made the Reformed confession the official religion of his domain by overseeing the composition and promulgation of the Heidelberg Catechism. His support of Calvinism gave the German Reformed movement a foothold within the Holy Roman Empire.

Palatine Zweibrücken, or the County Palatine of Zweibrücken, is a former state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Zweibrücken. Its reigning house, a branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was also the Royal House of Sweden from 1654 to 1720.

Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken

Count Palatine Wolfgang of Zweibrücken was member of the Wittelsbach family of the Counts Palatine and Duke of Zweibrücken from 1532. With the support of his regent, his uncle Rupert, Wolfgang introduced the Reformation to Zweibrücken as early as 1537.

Palatinate-Neuburg

Palatinate-Neuburg was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505 by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km², with a population of some 100,000.

Ellwangen Abbey

Ellwangen Abbey was the earliest Benedictine monastery established in the Duchy of Swabia, at the present-day town of Ellwangen an der Jagst, Baden-Württemberg, about 100 km (60 mi) north-east of Stuttgart.

Frederick II, Elector Palatine Elector Palatine

Frederick II, Count Palatine of the Rhine, also Frederick the Wise, a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was Prince-elector of the Palatinate from 1544 to 1556.

Otto Henry, Elector Palatine Count Palatine of Neuburg from 1505 to 1559

Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine, a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty was Count Palatine of Palatinate-Neuburg from 1505 to 1559 and prince elector of the Palatinate from 1556 to 1559. He was a son of Rupert, Count Palatine, third son of Philip, Elector Palatine; and of Elizabeth of Bavaria-Landshut, daughter of George of Bavaria.

Dorothea of Denmark, Electress Palatine Electress Palatine

Dorothea of Denmark and Norway was a Danish, Norwegian and Swedish princess and an electress of the Palatinate as the wife of Elector Frederick II of the Palatinate. She was a claimant to the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish thrones and titular monarch in 1559–1561.

Ruprecht of the Palatinate (Bishop of Freising)

Ruprecht, Count Palatine of the Rhine, was the third son of Philip, Elector Palatine of the House of Wittelsbach and he was Bishop of Freising from 1495 to 1498.

Philip, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg

Philip the Contentious, a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was a titular Count Palatine of the Rhine and ruling Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg from 1505 to 1541.

Anna of Hesse

Anna of Hesse was a princess of Hesse by birth and marriage Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken.