The Teutonic Order Castle - Mainau, B-W, Germany
N 47° 42.300 E 009° 11.999
32T E 515002 N 5283532
In German, this castle is called "Schloss des Deutschritterordens", or Castle of the Teutonic Order.
Waymark Code: WM193VZ
Location: Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Date Posted: 11/21/2023
Views: 1
For 500 years, the island of Mainau belonged to the Teutonic Knights, who were raised to clerical knighthood during the medieval crusades. In 1732, the provincial superior of the order province of Alsace-Burgundy commissioned the order's master architect Johann Caspar Bagnato to build a baroque church, which was consecrated to the Mother of God in 1739. Immediately afterwards he was commissioned to plan and manage the construction of the castle, which he completed in 1746.
Despite limited resources, he managed to build the hoof-shaped, three-wing complex in great harmony. He did without the representative staircase modeled on the Würzburg Residence, which many builders were striving for at the time. The magnificent coats of arms of the Grand Master Clemens August of Bavaria, the Land Commander Philipp von Froberg and the Mainau Commander Friedrich von Baden are on the west side, and the coat of arms of the Teutonic Order is on the east gable on the lake side.
The lower area of the castle is open to visitors. Exhibitions regularly take place here in the historic coat of arms hall. Currently, the island and castle belong to the Lennart Bernadotte-Stiftung (The Lennart Bernadotte Foundation), an entity created by Prince Lennart Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, originally a Prince of Sweden and Duke of Småland. The castle is still the residence of the count's family today. You can tell whether the count's family is present by the count's flag, which is hoisted on the castle roof. From 2 of the photos, you can see the flag (blue top, yellow bottom).
In keeping with the times, the Teutonic Order Commandery of Mainau has a facebook page:
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visit link)