Schloss Escheberg - Zierenberg, HE, DE
N 51° 23.777 E 009° 14.960
32U E 517346 N 5693923
Escheberg Castle was formerly an estate, a manor house and noble seat, and probably a moated castle. The present Biedermeier complex at Escheberg near Zierenberg in Hesse (Germany) was completed in the 19th century.
Waymark Code: WM18FR6
Location: Hessen, Germany
Date Posted: 07/27/2023
Views: 0
Building history
The substructure of the medieval cellar vaults of the horseshoe-shaped and three-story manor house suggests that the building was once fortified and used as a moated castle. Around 1530, a half-timbered main building with bay windows was erected. In 1740, to the north of the manor house, the estate was built with an administration building, barn, stables and farm buildings. In the 18th century the half-timbered building was rebuilt and only the upper floor and the roof gable wall on the narrow side remained. The rococo park, which was built symmetrically to the building and was located to the north of the manor on the Escheberg, also dates from this period and is no longer preserved. A chapel was added to the east wing of the complex in 1752, above the entrance of which there is a coat of arms stone of the von der Malsburg family. An egg-shaped shield with a crest and mantle made of rocailles is also placed there. The organ in the pulpit wall of the chapel was built in 1793 by the court organ builder Georg Peter Wilhelm from Kassel; it was carefully restored in 2010/11.
In 1789, the main front was redesigned under Carl Otto Johann von der Malsburg, when seven window axes were created from the original five. The gables on the north and south sides, the portal and the turret with weather vane also date from this remodeling phase. In 1790 a greenhouse was built, in the central part of which there is a tea pavilion with a flat dome. Uniform white plaster gave the manor house the architectural character of a Biedermeier chateau. In the 19th century, the rococo gardens extending to the south were transformed into an English landscape garden. In 1922, the building complex was overhauled and renovated, and the wing buildings were raised on the courtyard side. Between the estate and Escheberg Castle there was a low conical building with a corner pavilion, on the site of which a farm building was erected around 1938.
Poetenstube
On the third floor, next to the library, is the Poetenstube, which has remained unchanged to this day and is not open to the public. Chamberlain and patron Karl Otto von der Malsburg, the younger brother of the romanticist Ernst Friedrich Georg Otto von der Malsburg, held literary circles with him at Escheberg Castle.
In 1841 and 1842, Emanuel Geibel was a guest at Escheberg Castle. His song Der Mai ist gekommen was written during the hike from Lübeck to Escheberg Castle. He began the first rudiments of the poem Wanderlust in 1841 while traveling to the castle in the Dasetal. The poem was first published in Kassel in 1842. Geibel prepared the second edition of his collection of poems at Escheberg Castle, and the second edition was published in Lübeck in 1841. The folk songs and romances of the Spaniards, dedicated to Ferdinand Freiligrath and published in 1843, can also be traced back to a stay at Escheberg Castle. The idea for Geibel's first drama Roderich also originated at Escheberg Castle. The first five scenes of the third act were first published in the Kassel Salon on February 2, 1842. During his time at Escheberg Castle, the poet developed a deep affection for Karl Otto von der Malsburg's daughter Henriette, to whom he dedicated numerous poems and the most beautiful love songs in the Escheberg poetry cycle. This love remained unrequited, however, as Henriette married the Bavarian Count von Holnstein in 1852.
August Wilhelm Schlegel, Ludwig Tieck, Wilhelm Müller, Heinrich Marschner, Louis Spohr, Christoph Rommel, August von der Embde, Moritz von Schwind, Friedrich von Bodenstedt and Ludwig Emil Grimm also enjoyed Karl Otto von der Malsburg's hospitality. They lived at times in the Poetenstube and were supported by Karl Otto von der Malsburg. Evidence of their stays can be found in Karl Otto von der Malsburg's guest book.
Today's use
Escheberg Castle is privately inhabited by the von der Malsburg family. With the exception of the English garden, the grounds are not accessible to the public. A golf course is operated in the southwest and south of the castle.
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