Seefeld Castle

Seefeld Castle (German: Schloß Seefeld) is a castle in Seefeld, Bavaria, that has its origins in a 13th-century building but has since been extensively modified.

Today it serves in part as a museum. A large park extends to the south of the castle.

Seefeld castle lies on the east shore of the Pilsensee. It is entered by a massive brick bridge over the Höllengraben to the fountain courtyard, built in 1674 after a wooden bridge had collapsed. The gate was built in 1736 in rococo style, with a gable that holds an impressive stone carving of the arms of the counts of Toerring-Jettenbach.

The courtyard, with its 1733 fountain, is framed by strong 18th century farm buildings designed for stabling and brewing. A second bridge leads into the inner courtyard. Built on 10th century foundations, the donjon was mainly built in the 13th century and renovated in 1500.

The domain of Sevuelt am Pilsensee (Seefeld) was owned by the lords of Seefeld.

In 1150 Count Berchthold von Andechs obtained part of the forest from the Benedictine abbey.

In the 12th and 13th centuries the lords of Seefeld acquired large estates. The castle is mentioned for the first time in 1302.

The keep was built in the middle of the 13th century on a rocky spur above the Pilsensee.

The small tower in the southwest of the castle shown on Michael Wening's 1700 drawing was probably older, as was the old north building.

The Gothic hall and curtain wall were probably built at the same time as the keep.

The first chapel was built in the mid-14th century, first mentioned in 1365. In 1479 this chapel was replaced by the new one built between the keep and the curtain wall by Seyfried von Toerring and inaugurated on 28 December 1479. Also in 1479 a fortified tower was built in the southeast of the castle complex. In 1500 the tower and the donjon were restored. A brewery was built at Seefeld in 1601. The bridge collapsed in 1674 and was rebuilt at high cost in brick.

The Counts of Toerring-Jettenbach, followers of the Wittelsbachs from the 14th century, were very influential at the court of the Electorate and Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1730 Count Ignaz Felix von Törring-Jettenbach was made field marshal of Bavaria.

Text adapted from “Seefeld Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Seefeld Castle ranks #5,370 of 8,764 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #445 of the 618 mapped in Germany. Founded 1302, it is older than 63% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 649 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,270 times in the last 60 days, more than 56% of the atlas. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Munich, 30 km away. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗