Dachau Palace

The Dachau Palace is a former residence of the rulers of Bavaria at Dachau, southern Germany.

The castle was constructed around 1100 as a castle by the cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach. In 1182, the last Count of Dachau, Konrad III, died without issue and Duke Otto I of Bavaria took possession of it shortly thereafter. The original castle was demolished between 1398 and 1403. In 1467, Sigismund, Duke of Bavaria resigned his rule of Bavaria-Munich and then kept only the new duchy of Bavaria-Dachau as his domain until his death in 1501.

William IV of Bavaria and his son Albert V ordered the construction of a Renaissance style four-wing palace with a court garden on the site of the old castle. The new building was designed by Heinrich Schöttl; construction began in 1546 and was completed in 1577. It later became the favoured residence of the rulers of Bavaria. Also, close to Dachau Palace was the Schleissheim Palace that started out with a Renaissance country house (1598) and hermitage founded by William V, Duke of Bavaria.

In 1715, Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria commissioned a redesign in Baroque style by Joseph Effner. The 60 wrought-iron parapet grilles on the facades have always been an essential accessory. The metalwork in six different patterns gives the magnificent facade its final touch. They were commissioned by Elector Max Emanuel and produced by Antoine Motté between 1724 and 1725. The design is attributed to Joseph Effner, while the models for the castings were made by the Flemish sculptor Guillielmus de Grof. Only the south-west wing is extant; King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria ordered the other 3 wings to be demolished in the early 19th century. They had suffered extensive damage at the hands of the Napoleonic troops.

The Palace is managed by the Bavarian Administration of State-owned Palaces, an administrative department of the Free State of Bavaria. It is open to visitors and the Banqueting Hall can be booked for special events. It is also used as a venue for classical concerts. The stairwell, same as the west facade of 1715 are built in the Régence style.

The main sight of the palace is the banqueting hall with its coffered Renaissance ceiling, designed and created between 1564 and 1566 by Hans Wisreutter, which was restored to the palace in 1977.

Text adapted from “Dachau Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dachau Palace ranks #2,786 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #209 of the 505 mapped in Germany. Founded 1546, it is older than 41% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,800 times in the last 60 days, more than 64% of the atlas. 12 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Munich, 17 km away. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

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